Darkened Virtue
by Madame Mayhem
Summary: When you are reborn in a place that you know will have a dark-like future, you want nothing more than to tweak scenarios in the timeline a little in hope of the possible better. But who says you have to stop there, or even go about it in that way? Why not do things differently? Antagonistic Self-Insert OC, Antagonist!OC, slight Obito/OC. Inspired by: Darkpetal16's "Rotted Rowan"
1. Chapter one: Reincarnation

**Author's Note: **This is my second self-insert fiction, my first with using a non-canon character. I have no business publishing right now, let me just say. I'm juggling so many stories that I had to put two of them on hiatus, but the was just one idea that wouldn't seem to leave me alone so here I am. Hope you enjoy.

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

**Inspired by Darkpetal16's "Rotted Rowan"**_ (you should check it out, seriously)_

**Edited: September 5, 2014 **(speech tagging, punctuation, and such fixed)

* * *

**Chapter One**

_Reincarnation_

* * *

Reincarnation, the religious or philosophical theory that the soul or spirit, after biological death, begins a new life in a new body.

That right there was just something that she never believed in. Something that more than likely doesn't, and will never, exist. It was a ridiculous thought that someone thought of to make death seem less frightening, that was what she would tell you if you asked for her opinion on such a thing. When you died, you lived a never ending afterlife in either Heaven or Hell. Because your soul just had no place else to go.

At least, that _was_ what she thought. Until the most inevitable thing happened, she had in fact been reborn.

And oh no, she wasn't just being silly. This was no dream, nor was it an illusion. She was in fact reborn, the proof of it being that she was at the moment a small infant. She last remembered being in a terrible accident, in horrible pain while her life was slowly slipping away from her. And then she was here, wherever that was suppose to be.

She still possessed memory of her old life, who her parents were, her old friends, she even had a boyfriend and a very nice job. She still had memory about who she use to be, a twenty-six year old with tan skin and dark brow hair and brown eyes. She could see her arms and little hands right now, and she was pale. _Several_ shades lighter than what she use to be.

She wriggled around in a woman's arms, said woman held her closer to keep a better hold. She was pale skinned, with long stark black hair and a pair of eyes to match. She had a certain vibe about her, one that gave off nothing but love, warmth, _safety_. It made her cease all her movement and just bask in it, while the woman smiled down at her sweetly. Lovingly stroking her cheek and tickling her chin.

She spoke to her softly, then the small child froze. She ... she hadn't understood a word of that, what was this language she was speaking? Was this... Japanese? Was she in Japan right now? She suppose that cleared the confusion of her current location.

She tried to speak back to her, more specifically to say what she just said in English. So she could understand. But no understandable words came out, only the sounds that you would expect from an infant. She should have expected such.

The woman chuckled, then turned to look at someone else. Her voice heightened in pitch, as if she were calling for them, and the only thing the little one could understand was the name that she'd called.

_'Kagami'_

This person named Kagami walked over and kneeled by the woman, some words were exchanged by the two until the young girl was finally moved into the arms of Kagami. Who she could now see was a man, with shaggy black hair and matching eyes.

His vibe felt different from the woman's, it wasn't as welcoming. He felt just a tad cold, and he had a small scowl on his face. It made the young one whimper a little and shrink back as much as she could. But he was only like this for a few seconds, after that his scowl turned into a small smile. And he held her much closer, lovingly patting her back. That felt much better.

The one named Kagami spoke to the woman again, she said something back to him. A name, a single name that he repeated after looking back down to the baby in his arms.

_'Haruhi'_

Was he saying her name was Haruhi? She couldn't tell, it was only confirmed when the woman scooted over and tickled her cheek. Cooing out the name, her name. Haruhi.

These two, this woman and this man named Kagami, were these ... possibly suppose to be her parents? If so, she was curious to know exactly who they were and what she was doing there. Find out where in Japan she was exactly.

These were some things that she didn't come to find out until two years later.

She was out with her mother, taking a nice and peaceful walk around the small town as she held her hand. They past up many people who resembled them, with their dark hair and eyes. Most of those people had headbands tied around their foreheads, with metal plates on them. They had a symbol on them, one that made her think of a leaf.

She remembered seeing those before, in her old life. In a manga that she used to read, Naruto. But it wasn't odd, it was a very popular manga and anime. Maybe the Japanese loved it so much they dressed like the characters?

But no, that hadn't been the case. She saw more people like that leaping incredibly fast on top of rooftops. Normal people could never do anything such as that, not even the Japanese. That was for certain.

On their walk, she saw many familiar things. Things she remembered seeing in the manga. The Ramen shop, the Hokage Tower ... the Stone Faces.

She didn't want to accept it, but the facts were practically smacking her right in the face. She wasn't just born in Japan, as a matter of fact that country didn't even exist here. None of the countries she remembered did. She was born somewhere that should've been impossible, because it was suppose to be fictional. Nothing more and nothing less.

She was in the Narutoverse, God that just seemed so ... _odd_. What was she doing in such a place like this? Who would want to be put in a world like this? A world filled with ninja and death.

A place where a lot of children were raised and trained as child soldiers, only to be used as expendable tools. This place... it wasn't what people made it out to be. This shouldn't have even been possible, it was difficult to take in.

There were numerous stories about the exact same situation that she was in, where the character is reborn into Naruto. Or they fall through a portal, get sucked into the manga, whatever nonsense they wrote about. The people who read such stories, who talked about how much they wished to be in the character's place, they don't realize what they were wishing for. In fact, they were stupid for it.

This place was harsh, it was dangerous and ruthless. It was just one of those places that you honestly wouldn't want to be, that included Haruhi. She didn't want any of this, she wanted nothing to do with this world.

She would much rather stick to the fanfiction, and let the imaginary characters deal with this bull crap.

But hell she was here already, whether she wanted to be or not was of no importance. Nothing could be done about it now, obviously. What was she to do, end her life? Well, that would just be plain insane. No matter how much she disliked being there, she would never go to such lengths.

But, then she had to wonder.

Why her? Why did she gain the privilege(curse) of being put into this world, this world of death? But maybe it wasn't so bad, maybe she could be a civilian. Yes, she didn't have to be a ninja. Maybe she was even born into a civilian family.

But how disappointed she was, this universe was against her. It was laughing at her, and she ruled out the possibility of a mistake being made. If there was any 'mistake', it was her being born here in the first place.

She was born into one of the four elite clans of Konohagakure, the Uchiha clan. She finally recognized the paper fan crest that marked the clansmen, that was hung throughout the compound.

Furthermore, she was born to Kagami Uchiha and his wife Miwako. The same Kagami Uchiha that was one of the six direct subordinates of Tobirama Senju, the second Hokage, during the first Shinobi World War.

That meant Shisui, who in his older years would be famed as 'Shisui of the Body Flicker', was to be her younger brother. That also meant that Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha were to be her younger cousins.

Oh what a family, to be put in one such as this (and be directly related to some of the canon characters) made her wonder what this world had in store for her.

It seemed amazing, it seemed cool, but she didn't want any of this. How would she survive?

Become a ninja? She was an Uchiha, that was most likely what would happen. Especially because of who her father was, she would have to live up to his name. Or be look upon as nothing more than a disappointment amongst her fellow clansmen. If she were to live in this world, it surely would _not_ be as something like that.

Now, the timeline that she'd been born in was the same as Kakashi, Obito, the other Jounin teachers from Naruto's time. She knew this because there were only three faces on the Hokage monument, not to mention she's seen her father speaking to Sakumo Hatake on one occasion.

That meant that she was a long way away from canon, this also meant that the third war hasn't happened yet. She'd be a ninja for sure by the time it did, and would more than likely have to fight in it.

A war, filled with death and bloodshed ... it frightened her. It just frightened her to no end. She would have to kill, stain her hands with the red colors inside of their bodies. But she tried not to think of the bad things, but instead something else. A question.

What could she do? She was aware of the future, she had the knowledge. So what would she do with that? Probably nothing if the Uchiha clan massacre still happened.

Her fucking ass would be six feet under.

... There she went, thinking negatively again.

But maybe that could be avoided, if she thought about why it happened in the first place. Itachi committed the genocide because the Uchiha clan was plotting something very bad. Only because they felt like they were pushed into a corner by their Village.

They were accused, or at least under the suspicion, of the Nine-tails attack. As Kyuubi could be controlled by the Sharingan, a doujutsu only possessed by an Uchiha.

The Kyuubi attack only happened because Obito removed the beast from his host Kushina Uzumaki, and ordered it to attack. Having control of the beast, collecting the tailed beasts was part of his plan.

The Eye of the Moon plan, the one he adopted from Madara Uchiha. The man he met, the man that was the cause of everything Obito would do after that point, all starting because of his near death during the third war. Because of his accident.

If she prevented him getting caught under those rocks, the entire timeline would be shaken up. A lot of things would change, maybe for better or for worse.

That, or stop Kakashi from killing Rin. Or even making sure that Obito never falls for Rin, the first two would be out of her hands if she was never put onto their team. But the latter was doable, all in all that was a very good and non-risky plan. That is if she started Academy at the same time that they did, a year ahead of the normal enrollment age, at five years old. She would have to study hard and work even harder if she wanted to be placed in early.

She had but three years to work on it.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

When Haruhi and Miwako got home, they were greeted by Kagami. Haruhi dropped her Mother's hand and held her arms out to her father as he reached out to pick her up. He sat her on his hip and kissed his wife on the forehead.

"How was your stroll?" he questioned her as they walked to the lounge room, she smiled.

"It was very lovely," she replied in her usual spot spoken tone. "I spoke to a lot of people I knew, they just gushed over Haruhi." She giggled. "I met up with Mikoto and had a little chat, she told me Fugaku might ask her to marry him soon."

Haruhi nearly laughed, Fugaku Uchiha? It was funny to hear since he didn't seem like the type, Kagami smirked. "Really now? What made her come to that assumption?"

"Hmmm ..." Miwako hummed, tapping her chin. "Well, she said he's been acting a little different lately. A little nervous sometimes even."

"Maybe she's right, that surely doesn't sound like Fugaku." Haruhi stopped listening, it wasn't until Kagami spoke to her that she zoned back in. "Isn't that right Haruhi?" he asked her, tickling her belly. Making her squirm and giggle.

She nodded. "Yes dada." She didn't know what the hell he was talking about, but she clearly said the right thing when both of her parents smiled at her.

"Good, you're going to be such a smart girl when you grow up. If you keep that attitude." Well now she was wondering what he was talking about, as well as what she had just said yes to.

Miwako left the room after patting her daughter on the head, then Kagami brought her to another room that was deeper in the house. He slide the door open and closed it behind him.

There were shelves filled with books and scrolls, a low table sat in the middle of the room that her father sat her down at. She watched as he searched the shelves, pulling out books. She's never seen this room before, this was her first time being within it. She remembered Miwako telling her never to come in here however, that this was Kagami's private room.

It was his study, it explained everything that was in here. He walked back over and sat five books down onto the table, then picked her up and sat her down onto his lap as he took a seat on the ground. Taking one of the books and opening it to the first page, Haruhi saw nothing but kanji.

She couldn't understand a word of it, did he expect her to read this to him? His put his finger to the page and read the first line, dragging his finger below every word that he read aloud.

He asked for her to say it back to him, and she did. Looking over every word while doing so, so that was his angle? He was teaching her how to read. It was frustrating, having to learn to speak a language like Japanese was tiresome enough. Why couldn't the Japanese at least write in romaji?

At least then she'd know how to read it, even though she isn't suppose to know just like that. But she could've just faked it, pretend like she was struggling with it like a child her age should. How hard would that be?

Alongside with the reading, he began to teach her how to write out the kanji as well. Again, why not romaji, she had to learn all over again. Her child instincts began to bubble up a tantrum, that was how frustrated she was getting. But she bit it all down and toughed it out, she wouldn't succumb to something like that.

This nearly reminded her of how she had to learn to speak this language, only not as aggravating. She listened carefully to what everyone around her said, it was simple as that since she was developing like a child was suppose to. Too bad reading Kanji couldn't be that simple.

They did this for weeks and weeks. He apparently wanted her to learn early, she didn't blame him she supposed. He seemed like he wanted a smart child, and that was exactly what she would give to him.

He sat with her and read to her those five books for two and a half months, everyday she came home with her Mother. Eventually, for the first time since her studies began, he had her read it to _him_.

It wasn't perfect, it wasn't even good. She kept pausing and misprouncing words everywhere, but she was trying. Most of all she was learning, and that was a very good start for her.

These teachings were like their much need father-daughter bonding time, since the first two years of her life we mostly spent with her mother. While Kagami was very serious about her lessons, he seemed to enjoy this time with her as much as she did.

Once she was able to finally read all five of those books well, it had neared the end of that year. For elevan months she relearned the skill of reading and that was when Kagami had given her material that was a tiny bit more difficult.

It was a little ridiculous, it was hard, but she tried her hardest. She wanted to make her father proud, she was an Uchiha. The daughter of Kagami Uchiha no less. He then started her on the basics of Math, Science, and History by the time she was three.

The Mathematics and Science were very easy to learn, in all honesty she didn't learn _anything_. Because she knew it all already, those two subjects were for the most part just like the ones from her old life. She learned the Japanese names for the numbers, she knew how to count.

That was more than enough for her to know what she was doing.

Kagami would watch in amazement as she gave him answer after answer, all correct. He would probably expect more from her when she was older because of this, but right now she just wanted to see that glint of proudness in his eyes.

The History was something else that was easy, she already held knowledge of the Kage, the war, as well as other things thanks to the manga. So for now her studies in those subjects were put on hold.

Now, now is when she began her ninja training.

She was given another book by Kagami, one that she could read on her own. It held the basics of, and information on, chakra. It contained the meaning of chakra exhaustion and how it is gotten, how it is molded, your chakra coils and how they're unlocked, everything she would have to know.

Chakra, it was very much essential to perform even the simplest of techniques. It was more then just physical energy, it was mental and spiritual as well.

There were various methods used, the most common being hand seals, to control and manipulate chakra. In order create an effect that would otherwise not be possible. Such as walking on tress and atop of water, breathing out fire, creating and trapping people in illusions, as well as many other things.

Without it, you could say goodbye to a ninja career, or at least one where you would using ninjutsu and genjutsu. You'd have to settle for becoming a taijutsu master, or a weapons specialist. Haruhi hoped she had no deformities in that field, nothing like deformed chakra coils or blocked off chakra points. She wouldn't know until she tried to activate it, so she had to practice.

She was to read through the book first, then go to Kagami when done. She would then spend another month learning how to unlock her chakra.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

"You've been studying very hard Haruhi, I'm glad." Kagami said, giving his only child a small smile. "That shows me that you're very serious, now you're ready to move ahead in your training."

Haruhi smiled, she was very glad to hear that from him. She was happy to know that he was satisfied with the pace at which she was learning, it made her heart swell with pride and confidence.

Kagami picked up the leaf that laid on the low table next to them, then handed it out to her. "This is a very basic chakra exercise," He said, as Haruhi took it from him. "I want you to stick it to your forehead."

"Okay ..." she muttered, then focused some of her chakra to her forehead. She put the leaf there and it stuck, for one whole minute before it fell off. She caught it and looked up at the man who sat in front of her. "U-Umm ... I ..." she paused.

The look that Kagami was giving her was a hard one, one that told her to do it again. She sighed, he was even more serious here than he was with her studies. Possibly because this was the start of her ninja training. He wasn't her loving Father here, here he was her strict teacher.

She put the leave to her forehead again. "_Concentrate_," Is what Kagami told, and she gave a small nod. She dropped her hand and the leaf stayed again. She took, or tried to take, calm breaths. "don't let it fall again until I say so."

Her father's watchful eyes were making her nervous, it was almost as if he were judging her. At least that was how she felt. She clenched her fists, she could feel the leaf slipping again. This chakra stuff was a lot more difficult than she thought it would be.

Chakra ... she wasn't very familiar with it. Attempting to mold it, to focus and use it, was proving to be very troublesome. The other characters made it look easier, even if they messed up. They still got it a lot quicker than she did most likely.

When the leaf fell again, he sighed. Shaking his head. "You excel in book smarts, but from what I can see so far you lack greatly in chakra control. That will cause problems later on in your training ..."

Her shoulders slumped, he couldn't have expected her to get it right on the first couple of times. She was _trying_, what more did he want from her?! "I'm sorry Dada ..."

His stern look softened at the tone of her voice, then he sighed again. "We'll have to spend more time working on this exercise than I originally thought, you need more practice."

She stayed quiet, only nodding. She felt like she was disappointing him, that was something she never _ever_ wanted to do. But she shouldn't just be doing this for Kagami.

She had to do it for herself as well, this was the Narutoverse. A place where you had to be strong in order to have a chance at survival, it was pretty much your only hope. And, maybe, if you ever got strong enough, those around you would be too afraid to even think of messing with you.

She'd work harder, she'd practice this exercise all day everyday until she got it near perfect. She would do nothing else.

And that was exactly what she did.

But not with her forehead, she started out with her hands first. It wasn't too different, but it seemed that concentrating chakra to the hands was a little simpler. She would stick the leaf to every individual finger, one by one, and try to hold it there for as long as she could.

She stuck it to her arms, her legs. After a while she started to have fun with it, eventually it didn't even feel like training anymore.

The more fun it was, even if it was only a little, the better.

If this was tricky for her, she could just imagine what learning jutsu would be like. Thankfully, training like that wouldn't begin until she was enrolled in Ninja Academy. Genjutsu, she wasn't sure. But that definitely wouldn't be until she was much older as well.

Because, a child her age could only do so much.

A month and a half went by until she could finally keep the leaf securely to her head. Her father was glad that she was finally able to grasp the basics of chakra control. And was ready to move her onto the next lesson he had planned for her.

Miwako however felt that her little girl needed a break, she hardly got any ever since her training began. She talked Kagami into giving Haruhi some time off, and he agreed. On the condition that she work even harder to make up for the lost time.

And Haruhi was very much willing to take that challenge from him, she knew the discipline would be more intense. That much was expected.

Miwako had taken Haruhi with her to visit her Aunt and Uncle, Mikoto and Fugaku. They both reminded her of her own parents, Miwako and Mikoto being very similar in personality. Fugaku was just like Kagami, if his 'strict teacher' mode was on twenty-four-seven.

"Hello Haruhi," Mikoto cooed, squatting down to her level. "how old are you now? _My_ you've gotten so big."

Haruhi gave her a big smile, and held up three of her fingers. "I'm three now Auntie!" she said, and Mikoto giggled. She half expected the little one to say 'I'm this many!' when she held up her fingers. And she probably would've if Kagami hadn't taught her how to count, or she would've said it in English. But that probably would have confused her.

"I hear Kagami has begun her ninja training." Fugaku said to Miwako after glancing down at Haruhi.

Miwako nodded. "Oh _yes_ he has, and she's doing so wonderfully!" She was never one for bragging, but when it came down to her child she just couldn't help it. "She's so smart, you should've seen how fast she was learning her academics. It was _remarkable_!"

By now they were all seated, Haruhi blushed a little from her spot in Mikoto's lap at her mother's words. She wasn't accustom to such praise, her father would always just give her a pat on the head and a 'great job'. Mikoto noticed her expression and giggled.

"You're embarrassing the little girl Miwako-chan." she said, running a hand through Haruhi's shaggy, shoulder length black hair.

"Why feel embarrassed? She's a little genius, I just know that she is!" She pinched Haruhi's cheek. "She's learning faster than a child her age usually does."

"Hn," Fugaku grunted. "exactly what should be expected, she is an Uchiha after all." Alright, she really wishes they would just change the subject already. She wasn't use to all of this attention, it was growing to be quite weird. She was so use to not being spoken about so highly.

Miwako nodded. "I swear, Kagami always says something just like that." Yeah, but probably a little nicer than that. She smiled. "You know, he plans to have her in the Academy by the time she's five. It's like a little goal he's set."

Hearing this made Haruhi look attentively at her mother, was that right? That was great, it was exactly what she wanted. She half thought she would have to ask him herself by that time.

"Oh, he does?" Mikoto looked down at her niece. "How exciting, would you like that Haruhi?" She didn't respond, only stared. She wasn't suppose to know what that is yet, so it was best to just not answer that question.

The adults continued their conversating after that, and the subject would switch away from her then back to her. They talked about Mikoto and Fugaku's newlywed life, then Haruhi some more. They talked about Fugaku's new position as clan head, then the subject would somehow migrate back over to Haruhi.

'Somehow' meaning Miwako would bring up her daughter no matter what they were talking about. But the two didn't seem to mind. However, Haruhi's cheeks would turn pink every time. She minded a little.

Their visit wasn't short, but not too long, and soon enough they had left Mikoto and Fugaku's home. Making a stop somewhere on their tread home.

To a Dango shop, to be more exact. Haruhi sat outside on one of the benches as she waited for Miwako to bring out the treats. She smiled when she saw her Mother approach, Miwako sat down next her her and handed her her stick.

She gripped it with her small hand and gave a smile. "Thank you, mama!"

"Just don't tell dada, okay sweetheart?" she said, putting a finger up to her lips. Kagami never allowed for Haruhi to eat sweets, saying that they were nothing more than teeth rotters. That she could do without them, Miwako was the type of parent that would break small rules like that for her.

Haruhi nodded, mimicking the same action as her mother before they both began to eat their treats. She's never eaten Dango before, neither here nor in her past life, but this shit was delicious. She could see why Itachi loved them so much.

"Can we come here again Mama?!" she asked, and Miwako chuckled at her excitement. It was a little childish, it was only sweets. But despite her having the mature mind of an adult, she still had child-like tendencies.

"Of course we can, honey." Her answer made Haruhi very happy, because a break like this would make her harder days of training to come very worth it.

* * *

**Author's Note: **It was never said or shown, or at least I never found, who Shisui's Mom was. So I made her up. Under the personality section of Kagami's wiki, it didn't say anything other than his loyalty to his clan/village. So I made that one up to.

Things may start off a little slow, but I'm trying not to rush anything.

This chapter may be edited later, because I feel like I could've added more detail to it. It doesn't seem rushed does it? That's something I'm not trying to do.

Another thing I'm not trying to do is turn Haruhi into a Mary-Sue, hopefully I'm doing a good job of that so far.

**Question: **Who is your favorite character in the show, and why?

Don't be a ghost reader, leave a review for me! I'm curious to know your opinions! :D


	2. Chapter two: Silver Hair and No Masks

**Author's Note:** Good feedback on the first chapter, that makes me really happy! Thank you everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed. I appreciate that, and you, very much! I hope you like this next chapter just as much as you liked the first, cause it took me a little while lol. Not to mention I'm pretty content with how this one came out.

**Answer: **My favorite character is Naruto, the reason being that I almost always just love the main character. It's virtually the same with Bleach, One Piece, DBZ, and many other shows (anime or western) that I like.

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

**Edited: September 5, 2014**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_Silver Hair and No Masks_

* * *

Her relaxation time was over fairly quickly, before she knew it it was right back to training with Kagami. She sat up straight and cross-legged in his study, him sitting directly across from her in the exact same position.

His arms were folded. "You've been doing well Haruhi," he stated. "Now that you've grasped the basics of chakra control, do you think you're prepared for the next step?"

She quickly nodded. "I am, dada." she said, without any hesitation. He smiled at this, just the attitude he wanted her to have.

"Good," He picked up the little box that laid on the table beside them, opening it. He removed a leaf and handed it out to her. "I want you to stick this to your finger."

Haruhi blinked. "But ... I did that already dada, with my forehead." she said, tapping at her forehead as if it would further what she stated.

He shook his head, "This is different." She stared at him, then looked down at the leaf. Slowly taking it from his grasp, if he said it was different then she supposed she believed him. Whatever reason would he have to lie?

"Which finger?"

"Start with one of your thumbs." She nodded, sitting the leaf in the desired spot. She redirected some of her chakra to travel up her thumb, making the leaf stay firmly in place with ease. She looked up at Kagami, the smirk on her face a little smug.

He chuckled a little at her expression, she was getting ahead of herself. "Exactly as I expected, easy right?"

She nodded. "Easy peasy!"

"Good." He removed another from the box. "Now, put this one on the next finger." This took her by surprise a little bit, he really wasn't kidding when he said this was different.

She took it from him and placed it on her index finger next, holding that one in place with chakra just as the other. "Having any trouble yet?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"No." she answered, making him nod. He did the same as before, giving her another leaf that she put on her middle finger. It got a little bit harder, but she still managed just fine.

"How about now?"

"Ummm ..." she trailed. "A little ... but I can still hold it though!" If she kept total concentration on what she was doing. She sighed when her father handed her the next leaf, she placed it on top of her ring finger.

That was when it got a little more difficult. "How are you doing?" This time she didn't respond, only stared at her hand as she struggled to keep the leafs attached. He smirked, now he could see she was beginning to have some trouble.

He removed another, this time he sat it on her pinky for her. She only held the leaves for a few more seconds after this, letting out a deep sigh as she ceased the chakra flow to her digits. Making all five of them float down to the ground.

"The most you can hold is four." Kagami deducted. "That isn't too bad, by the time this exercise is over however I expect you to be able to hold at least six."

She nodded. "Yes, dada." But she'd do him one more, she'll learn how to hold at least seven leaves.

"Can you tell me why it got harder?"

"Hmmm," she hummed, tapping her chin. "Because ..." she trailed in thought. "... Because I was concentrating chakra to more than one place?"

He nodded. "Precisely the reason."

"How come I have to learn this exercise, Dada?" she questioned.

"Good question, I'm glad you asked." he said. "I was going to start you on something else, but in the end decided on doing this first. It should help better your control more and make the next exercise easier for you to accomplish." he explained, then his expression turned a little serious. "So I expect little to no mess ups from you."

She nodded, without saying a word. She wondered what it was that made this part of her chakra training so necessary, she'd ask but Kagami would more than likely tell her "You'll see."

Kagami picked up one of the leaves that was on the floor and handed it out to Haruhi, "Now, do it again." he bluntly said, Haruhi nodding and doing just what he said.

They sat there for hours on end, breaking for bathroom reasons a few times and dinner time, and this was proving to be just as difficult as the forehead exercise. If not even harder that is. But just as she did with that she would get this, she only needed to take her time.

In this case, she was using a majority of the spiritual half of her chakra. With that knowledge, she knew she had to do _a lot_ of concentrating. As spiritual chakra had a lot more to do with the mind than the body.

When making something, like the leaf for example, stick to you or when you want to stick to something, it is like you're using your chakra to bring it towards you. Making your desired object, or yourself, stick.

That was how the leaf stayed in place, that was also what made tree and water walking (in that case, repelling the water since it isn't solid) possible. She just had to imagine pulling all of those leaves toward each individual finger, but that was probably easier said than done.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

It took a long while, nearly an entire month of nonstop practicing, before she finally got it down. Seven leaves on seven fingers, Kagami was very pleased by this. As she had taken it up one step higher.

And now they were on their way to Training Ground Three, for a reason that Kagami had yet to explain to Haruhi. She wouldn't press it either, he would tell her once they reached their destination.

"This place is _huge_, dada!" she exclaimed, looking around the gigantic grounds. This training field was already big as it is, but her being nothing more than a small three year old it seemed so much bigger.

Kagami chuckled. "It is isn't it? That's because a lot of people come here for the same reason you and I are here."

She looked up at him. "To train?" She knew that's what it was for, it was called a training ground for a reason. But still, she had to keep up the child act. She was different enough from most children her age already.

He nodded. "Yes, exactly." he said, ruffling her hair a bit. She giggled, fixing the top of her head once he removed his hand.

They walked further in, going straight for the large lake that was located on the farther end of the grounds. When they began to approach it, they saw two people were already there. Two people that made Haruhi gasp and Kagami smirk.

"Well, isn't this a surprise." Kagami began, catching the two's attention. "Sakumo-kun, what brings you here this lovely morning?"

Sakumo smiled, giving Kagami a wave and walking up to them both. A little Kakashi following quickly and closely behind his father.

Haruhi stared at the young silver haired boy in mild shock, Kakashi ... he wasn't wearing his mask. She could clearly see his face, his cheeks were a little on the round side. Just like hers, due to his age, and he had a button nose.

His eyes traveled over to her, noticing her staring. He cocked his head to the side a little, in curiosity.

"It's nice to see you again Kagami-kun, I haven't seen you in quite a long time." Sakumo said, then he looked down at Haruhi. Squatting down to her level and giving her a smile, this made her take a step back and cling to Kagami's leg.

She didn't really know why she did it, but having him in her face like that so suddenly possibly had something to do with it. Sakumo chuckled. "A shy one isn't she."

"It appears so." Kagami answered, and he wasn't surprised. The only people she's ever been around were her parents, Mikoto, and Fugaku. Only once in a blue moon would she be near someone else in the clan, and it was never someone her own age.

"She's your daughter I assume?"

"And the reason why you haven't seen me in so long," Kagami rested a hand atop of her head. "her name is Haruhi."

Sakumo nodded. "It's nice to meet you Haruhi-chan, my name is Hatake Sakumo." She was already aware, he stood back up and put a hand on Kakashi's head. "And this is my son, Kakashi." he said to the both of them.

Kagami nodded. "Hello Kakashi, I am Uchiha Kagami." He pushed Haruhi up a little, Sakumo doing the same with Kakashi.

Both children looked at each other, then up at their fathers. Did they want them to introduce themselves to each other? They looked at each other, Kakashi clearly waiting for Haruhi to speak first.

"... I'm Uchiha Haruhi ..." she said, giving him a small smile. He nodded.

"Hello Haruhi-san, I'm Hatake Kakashi. It's nice to meet you." She was surprised by how polite he was being, she guessed he was a little different during the time when Sakumo was still around.

"So, you've been busy." Sakumo stated, Kagami nodding in response.

"I've been teaching her since she was two," he said, looking down at his daughter. "her actual training has only been going on for nearly a year."

Sakumo nodded. "Kakashi's began a little while after he turned three," he said, looking down at his maskless Son. "before now I had him practice his chakra control. Today, I was going to begin teaching him how to water walk."

Kagami nodded, his smirk growing into a smile. "That's exactly what Haruhi was doing, we're here for water walking as well."

Haruhi raised her eyebrows, looking up at Kagami. So that's what they were here for? They were skipping straight to water walking, that kind of explained the purpose of the last exercise she guessed. But what about tree walking?

"Great minds think alike, I suppose." Sakumo chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose so." Kagami said, then picked Haruhi up. Sitting her on his hip. "Now, since we're both here for the same thing, what's say we train together?"

Sakumo picked up Kakashi, mimicking the same action. "That isn't a bad idea." He turned to his child. "What do you think, Kakashi?" Kakashi only stared, then he shrugged.

"Well then, let's get started." Kagami said, walking past Sakumo and towards the large lake. Sakumo following right behind.

They put their children down near the edge of the water, then stepped back. Kagami looked at Haruhi. "This was the point to those chakra lessons, now you will learn to walk on top of water."

"First thing's first," Sakumo started, folding his arms. "focus a smooth and steady flow to your feet, just as you did with the leaves." he instructed them, and they both closed their eyes. Focusing.

Kagami and Sakumo watched as the bottoms of their feet began to glow a light blue. "Good, keep that flow steady." Kagami said, then they opened their eyes.

"Now, carefully, try stepping onto the water." Sakumo said, then Kakashi and Haruhi glanced at each other. Nodding their heads and doing just as they were instructed.

They both placed one foot onto the water, then the other. "Walk." Kagami said simply, then they both took careful steps.

Haruhi began to wobble a little, trying to concentrate on her feet, but eventually she fell into the water. She stood on top of it for only one minute at the most, the sudden splash made Kakashi lose his focus. Then he fell in right after her.

They both shot up, standing up in the nearly waste deep (for them) water and sputtering a little. It was a good thing this lake wasn't too deep.

Kagami sighed, looking down. While Sakumo waved it off. "That's alright," Sakumo stated. "just get out and try again is all."

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

They were out there for hours, and it consisted of a lot of falling into water. Which resulted in the two three year olds now being shirtless. It was alright for Haruhi, since she was still very young.

She rung out her short hair the best that she could, while Kakashi merely shook his dripping hair out. Sprinkling water onto Haruhi.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, putting her hands up for cover. Kakashi smirked, then lightly chuckled. Sakumo and Kagami smiled at the two, then the latter spoke.

"You two are catching on rather quickly, that's good." He crossed his arms. "Would you like to try again?"

Haruhi frowned, she'd actually wanted to go home. She was about to voice this to her father but Kakashi spoke before she got the chance. "Yes." Haruhi looked at him, frowning. He sounded confident, fully intended on getting this down before the day was over.

With that attitude, she couldn't tell Kagami she wanted to quit for the day. She wasn't gonna let Kakashi show her up like that. "I wanna try again too!" she exclaimed.

Kakashi blinked, staring at her. "... You sound sure of yourself." he said.

She put her hands on her hips. "That's because I am," She pointed at him. "sure that I'm gonna get this before _you_!"

Kakashi's eyes widened, and he huffed. "Yeah right, you fell more times than I did." he pointed out, crossing his arms.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "So? I'm still gonna get this down first, it's my right as an Uchiha."

Sakumo looked at Kagami, who only shrugged. He had no clue where she could've gotten something like that from, maybe Fugaku. He looked back at the two children. "Whenever you're ready."

Kakashi started to remove his soaked shoes, Haruhi quickly copied him. They threw them near their shirts, then formed the Ram seal with their hands. It helped with their concentration.

The soles of their bare feet glowed blue again, and they took careful steps onto the water. Sakumo and Kagami watched them closely.

The chakra flow needed to stay on top wasn't the same the whole time, like she previously thought. Depending on where you were stepping and how much the water rippled determined how much chakra input was needed. Haruhi caught on to this some time ago, that explained why she kept falling in. Whether Kakashi knew or not she didn't know, but she definitely wouldn't tell him about it.

If a little wave went under her feet, she had to put in more. Once the water calmed and it was more still, she reduced her chakra output. So far so good.

She looked up at Kakashi. "How are you doing?"

He nodded, staring at the water. "Good, and you?"

She nodded as well. "Just fine ..." She tried to walk around. Changing the force of chakra to however much was needed each step that she took, she smiled. She was starting to get it.

She heard a short yelp, then a big splash. She quickly stopped and turned around, seeing Kakashi slowly start to stand back up. She carefully made her way over to him, then held out a hand for him.

He looked at her hand then back up to her face, keeping the stoic expression plastered across his own as he took her hand in his. She smiled, then helped steady him as he got back onto the watertop.

She let out a breath, looking at him. Judging from his sudden change in vibe, he was starting to grow frustrated. So, putting her own goal of showing him up aside, she decided to help him out.

She waved for him to step closer and he raised an eyebrow, in curiosity. "What?" he asked.

"Come here." He shrugged, listening to her and leaning in. She cupped her hands around his ear, whispering something to him.

"I wonder what they're talking about over there ..." Sakumo voiced, Kagami only shrugged. Wondering the same.

Haruhi stepped away from Kakashi, and he leaned away. "Really? So that's the trick?" She nodded with a 'yup', and he looked down at the water. His reflection staring right back at him. "If you say so."

It got easier for him after that, if he started to mess up Haruhi help him steady himself. He did the same for her if she began to as well.

Kagami and Sakumo were very impressed, it wasn't perfect. They still needed a lot of practice before they could move around the water any quicker. But they could stand and take little steps without any foul ups, that was good. And it only took them several hours, verses how it would take some a few days.

"Alright, that's enough for today you two." Sakumo called.

"You can get out now." Kagami added, the sky by now was turning orange. The sun was setting, it would be dark soon so it was best to go home.

The two children nodded, carefully stepping off of the water and back onto solid ground. They picked up their shirts, which were still a little damp, and put them back on along with their sandals.

Kakashi walked up to Sakumo, and Haruhi up to Kagami. "That was fun!" Haruhi said, amusing the two adults.

"I'm glad you think so," Kagami said. "because you'll be practicing again tomorrow."

Sakumo turned to him. "Same time then?" he questioned.

"Of course." he said, with a small smile

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

The four returned to Training Ground Three day after day, so the three year old pair could practice the Walking on Water technique. This had been done for nearly two weeks. And ever day, they got a little better. It got easier, and eventually they could walk smoothly across the water. Without trouble, without having to take their time.

Kakashi was fun to be around, usually it was just Haruhi and her father. Having other company around for a change was very enjoyable, it was different.

Only thing was that she had to watch what she said around Sakumo. When it was just her and Kagami together it was different, she didn't have to say much as he focused more on teaching her than speaking.

Sakumo was a different story, he asked her questions about Kagami's training methods and how well she thought she was doing. If she couldn't wait to be a ninja and if her and Kakashi were becoming friends, things of that nature.

Like a child, she had to keep her answers as short and simple as possible. Sakumo was a smart man, he could easily catch onto how smart she truly was if she weren't careful. Thankfully she _was _careful, she didn't making anyone look at her with suspicion.

Kakashi and Haruhi walked side by side on top of the lake, this time around Sakumo and Kagami didn't watch them. Knowing that they would do just fine, they instead conversed with each other.

"Do you want to try something different?" Kakashi asked her, making her stop walking. To look at him.

"Something different? Like what?" she questioned curiously.

"We already get the "walking" on water thing," he said, air quoting. "and it's getting boring, so let's try running."

She blinked, she kinda did want to try but at the same time she didn't. She was getting tired of walking to, but they hadn't fallen into the water at all yet. She wanted it to stay that way, and not get soaked. "Hmmm ..." she hummed, giving it some genuine thought.

"Come_ on _Haruhi-chan," Kakashi egged on, poking her lightly in the side. She flinched and swatted his hand away.

"Alright fine," she muttered, holding her side protectively. "just don't do that again ..." She was ticklish after all, he nodded.

"Deal." He grabbed her hand, then got into a stance. One that showed he was ready to start sprinting at any moment. "Ready?"

She nodded, getting into the same position. "I guess ..." When Kakashi moved, she moved along with him.

Sakumo and Kagami hadn't even noticed, until they heard two short yells of surprise followed by two splashes.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Kagami had told her that actually running on the water was something she could learn when she was older, as he for now only wanted her to know how to stand and walk on it. But, she had gotten ahead of herself again. However, it had been Kakashi's idea in the first place. She told her Father this, and he only laughed. Saying she wasn't in trouble, so there was no need for her to point any fingers at anyone.

For now, since she could manage walking on water, she was to now move onto the next thing Kagami wanted her to practice. taijutsu. She wouldn't be doing any actual fighting, she _was _only three. But he was going to have her doing physical exercises, to help her in physical strength and flexibility.

He gave her another book, this one focusing solely on taijutsu alone and breaking it down, that she was to look over before starting.

Once she had done that, she began with the basic stretches and positions that the book described. Touching her toes, bending backwards and touching her hands to the ground, things of that nature. As well as doing the splits, that one wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. Considering she couldn't do that in her past life, she figured she wouldn't be able to do it here either.

But then again, the only thing different about her was her body. Her mind was the same as ever.

At the moment, she was doing push ups, and her muscles were practically screaming. She wanted to stop, but she hadn't reached fifty yet. If she stopped before she got to fifty, then Kagami would make her start all over from one again. He made that clear before she started.

She was at forty right now, "You're almost finished." Kagami stated, not that he really had to. She was keeping count herself.

_Forty-three_

_Forty-four_

_Forty-five_

Could you really call this taijutsu? Wasn't that really just a form of Martial Arts in this world? She didn't see how doing push ups would help her taijutsu skills.

_Forty-six_

_Forty-seven_

_Forty-eight_

Well, now that she thought about it, taijutsu demanded a good amount of strength and stamina if you wanted to be good at it. If she could increase her upper and lower body strength as well as lengthen the time it took her to grow fatigued, then it actually did make sense. Silly her. If she did these exercises enough, she'd get better. Plus, even more practice methods would be at her disposal once she was older. Such as actual hand-to-hand combat.

_Forty-nine..._

"That's fifty." Kagami said, and as soon as he did Haruhi dropped herself to the ground. Letting out a loud, relieved sigh. She seriously wasn't one for stuff like this ...

"What else do I have to do?" she asked, the tone in her voice showing that she prayed it was absolutely nothing.

"Don't make that face," She raised an eyebrow, she was making a face? "you'll get use to it. In fact, I'll give your arms a rest and move you onto sit ups instead."

She nodded respectfully. "Yes, dada." She moved into a sitting position. "Do I have to start now?"

He nodded. "Yes." He got up and walked to a shelf, and she watched him instead of beginning her sit ups. He looked through it, pulling out a book and flipping it open. His eyes scanned over the page and he walked back over to his spot in front of Haruhi, sitting back down. He was looking in the book, then looked at her expectantly. "Why are you just sitting there? Begin."

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "S-Sorry." She laid onto her back, putting her hands behind her head while Kagami held her feet down. He wanted her to do fifty, just like before.

The second she started, her asked her a question. "Who were the first two Kage of Konohagakure?" She blinked in surprise at the suddenness of his question, and she stopped her sit ups.

"Huh?" What was he asking her that for, did he get that from the book? He looked up from the book, at her.

"I've been so busy training you, you've gotten behind in your studies. This is multitasking, I'm only refreshing what you already know." he explained. "And you stopped, start over."

She sighed, "Yes, dada." She started over from one, counting away in her head.

"Answer the question."

"Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama." she answered, and he nodded.

"Good, what started the First Shinobi War?" She nearly stopped again, _nearly_. That wasn't something she knew already, what was he trying to pull.

"I don't know that one." She said bluntly, and he smirked.

"Guess you'll just have to learn it then," He said, then explained to her the answer.

After the 'one Shinobi village per nation' system was started, after Hashirama's founding of Konoha (following the Warring States Era), Hashirama had divided all of the Tailed-beasts among the Nations. In an attempt to divide out and maintain power. In hopes of along the way finding peace.

But since there were only nine Tailed-Beasts and five nations to divide them by, each obtained a different amount of the beasts. Instead of gaining the peace he was expecting, it created hostility between them. Despite the fact that each village not having a "fair" amount was the expected outcome. The hostility built up over time, until it finally erupted into a full on war. Where Tobirama sacrificed his life in a battle with Kumogakure's Kinkaku Force.

The latter was just a bit of info Kagami thought he should add. "Now do you understand?" he questioned, and she nodded.

"Yes, dada." she answered.

He did this for the entirety of her workout, asking her questions while she exercised. More than half of the History she hadn't known, as he was asking her about things she never even recalled reading in the Manga. Which also meant that he lied about this being a refresher, all he was pretty much doing was teaching her new material.

He alternated between History, Science, and Math the whole time. At first it annoyed her a little, but she could now see that he father's multitasking idea actually wasn't all that bad. And neither was this training, as her early training would surely pay off sometime in the long run.

* * *

**Author's Note: **There's very little info on the First War, so I just worked with what they had up. I imagine Kakashi not wearing that trademark mask until he entered the Academy, is that just me maybe?

**Question: **What would you do if you were reborn in the Narutoverse?

Leave your thoughts, comments, etc, in a review. Don't you be a ghost reader, ya hear! Love ya!


	3. Chapter three: Just Another Day

**Author's Note: **Another chapter, so soon? But why? Because I felt like it... that's why. Thank you to all who reviewed and favorited and such. It never goes unappreciated from me! Even if it isn't that much. Sorry if the name for this chapter isn't that good, I didn't know what to call it.

**Answer: **This might sound crazy (oh well) but, hands down, I'd be a fucking ninja! Not trying to say I'd try to worm my way into Team Seven, but I think it would be great. All the killing and life threatening missions aside, think of the stuff I'd be able to do. Especially if I was born to a clan!

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

**Edited: September 5, 2014**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

_Just Another Day_

* * *

Haruhi was now four years old, that meant she only had one more year until her father tried to enroll her into Ninja Academy. Only one year away from kick starting things off. But, now that she was a little bit older, that also meant she was old enough to advance in her taijutsu practice. To spar.

But, surprisingly, not with Kagami. He wanted her to start with someone who was more "on her level", so he'd told her that they would return to Training Ground Three. To meet up with some friends.

"Friends" meaning Kakashi and Sakumo, again. Not that she minded however, oh not at all. She was actually looking forward to seeing Kakashi again. And when they had both arrived at the training ground, the pair was there. Waiting for them, and Haruhi's eyes widened a little when she saw Kakashi.

He was now actually _wearing_ a mask, for whatever reason Haruhi didn't know. But she shouldn't have been surprised, as he was bound put the damn thing on sometime. She pouted a little, she kinda wanted to see his face again ...

"It's about time you show up," Sakumo joked, crossing his arms. "what took you?"

"Patience is virtue, Sakumo." Kagami joked back, as he stopped in front of the white haired man. "How much have you taught him?" he asked, glancing down at Kakashi.

"_Quite_ a bit, actually." he answered, patting his son on the head. "He's a fast learner, but he's also my flesh and blood. What else to expect?"

"Full of ourselves, are we?" Kagami commented, clearly only jesting. "Haruhi is a fast learner also,_especially_ when it comes to her book work." The two of them delved into a full on conversation, mostly about their children.

While Kakashi and Haruhi stepped off to the side, sitting down in the grass next to each other. Haruhi turned to him and poked his masked cheek, making him grab her hand and move it away from his face.

"What are you doing?" he questioned her.

"What's with this thing?" She tilted her head. "What are you wearing that for, you don't like your face or something?" She was positive that the older Kakashi's reasoning for wearing that mask was to conceal his face from enemies, or something along those lines.

He was only four years old, what enemies would he have? "My mask?" He lifted a hand and touched his covered cheek, then shrugged. "I don't know, I do like my face. I just think it makes me look cool." He turned to her. "You think?"

She deadpanned, was he serious? "... I guess so?" she said, unsure.

He nodded. "But, anyway, enough about my mask face. What have you been learning?"

She hummed, scratching her cheek. "Well, nothing more than stretches and workouts and stuff." She smiled. "What about you? I bet your Dada taught you all kinds of cool stuff."

"Dada?" he repeated, then chuckled. "Well, I don't call him that. I call him dad." She blinked, it wasn't like she wanted to call him that. That was just the only way she learned how to say it. "He taught me that stuff too, and a few moves."

She pouted. "I had to learn moves from a dumb book ..." she trailed, crossing her arms and making Kakashi chuckle again.

"Kids!" Kagami called, catching their attention. "Come here." he said as he waved them over. They both stood up and jogged over to them.

"Yes da-" Haruhi paused, then cleared her throat. "D ... Dad?" He raised an eyebrow, that was new. He had been so use to hearing 'Dada' from her.

"Are you two ready to spar?" Kagami asked, and the two glanced at each other before nodding. "Good. Get into position."

They both distanced themselves away from each other, facing one another before getting into a readying stance. "But first," Sakumo suddenly said, beckoning with his hands for them to step a little closer to each other. "There's something you need to do."

They moved up a little, then stopped. "What is it, dad?" Kakashi asked, then Sakumo smiled.

"You must first form the confrontation seal." he said, and Kagami nodded. He figured that's where he was going with this.

"Confroation seal?" Haruhi said, purposely mispronouncing the name. "What's that?"

"_Confrontation_ seal." Kagami corrected. "It's the seal that two opponents make before entering a sparring match, it's traditional."

"It's a sign, showing an engagement of battle." The White Fang added in.

"How do you do it?" Kakashi questioned, as and the two adults quickly showed them. It was like using one hand to form the Ram seal that they learned.

Kakashi and Haruhi both made the hand seal simultaneously, nodding at each other before readying themselves once more. They both glanced in Sakumo and Kagami's direction. Waiting for them to give the word.

When they saw both men nod, that was when they began. It wasn't much, they were young and still learning. Honestly, it started out as a pretty clumsy sort of fight that went on for a good while. At least half an hour or nearly.

They threw punches and kicks at each other, Kakashi seemed to learn how to dodge and bend in the same ways Haruhi did. They also appeared to be evenly matched.

Kakashi was a little stronger than her, but she was definitely a little more agile and quick compared to him. That was good on her part, it meant she could dodge faster than him.

Kakashi swiped at her feet with his leg, but she jumped up before he could touch her. When she landed back down she tried to roundhouse kick him while was still crouched down. But he caught her leg, the contact letting out a 'smack'.

"Nice try, but you'll have to do better than that." Kakashi teased, and Haruhi rolled her eyes.

"Shut up ..." she muttered, loud enough to be heard by him. She threw another punch at him, aiming for his head, but he caught the attack with his free hand. He shoved her leg and arm away, her odd stance making her fall onto her back with a light thud.

She was about to stand back up, but Kakashi kept her held in place by her wrists. She looked at him, even though his face was covered she just knew he had the smuggest smile right not.

"Nu-uh," he said, his eyes closed. That meant that he was smiling. "I win, and you lose." She didn't want to lose, she wasn't a damn loser! She tried to lift her arms, putting in as much strength as she could.

It started to work, she could see her hands were leaving the ground. But then, Kakashi put his body weight in and her arms and hands were right back on the ground. "_I_ win." he repeated.

"Alright Kakashi, that's enough." Sakumo said, and Kakashi got off of her. He held his hand out for her, to help her up. But she didn't take it however, instead she frowned and stood back up on her own. Dusting the dirt off of her clothes.

"You both did good, it's a start." Kagami commented, sticking his hands into his pockets. "But, it seems you need more practice, your form is poor." he said, looking at Haruhi.

She sighed, she didn't want to hear that from him. Why couldn't he just leave it at 'you did good'? "There's something else I want the both of you to do now." Sakumo stated.

Haruhi and Kakashi glanced at each other, then looked back at Sakumo. "What?"

"It's something that is to be done after every spar." he stated, then faced Kagami. They both made the one-handed Ram seal again, only this time they held it out to one another and curled their fingers together. "The reconciliation seal."

Kagami let go, then looked at the four year old duo. "It represents the two of you having no hard feelings toward one another, no matter the outcome of your battle. Win or lose, it shows that you still consider each other as comrades. You use the same hand you used for the confrontation seal."

The children turned back to one another, then Kakashi held out his fingers. "No hard feelings cause you lost?"

"Kakashi ..." Sakumo warned, and Kakashi rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry," he sighed. "friends?" he asked, a little more seriously. She had her arms crossed, looking between him and his hand. She wasn't a loser ... but she wasn't a sore one either.

She sighed too, taking her "seal" hand and interlocking fingers with him. "Friends ... I guess." she said, giving him a smile.

"You should always know when to accept defeat." Kagami said to Haruhi, causing her to turn to him after dropping Kakashi's hand. "And when to acknowledge one's true skill, it's how you learn. Remember that." Haruhi nodded.

Kakashi turned to his own parent. "How come we're stopping _now_? We haven't been out here that long ..."

Sakumo nodded. "I know, but I have somewhere to be soon Kakashi. I only brought you out here to see where you were in your taijutsu skills." Kakashi nodded, in understanding. "There's room for more learning, but you're not in a bad place."

Kakashi shrugged. "I have a good teacher."

"We both do." Haruhi said, smiling at Kagami. And he gave her a smirk right back.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Haruhi kicked her legs back and forth, as she was seated down on a bench. She was outside a little shop, Kagami had gone inside saying he'd be right back out. He told her to wait outside, so she did just that.

While she was waiting, she got to thinking. About what? Well, the future of course, _her_ future. Her presence here, it made her wonder what would change. Clearly something would, because she obviously wasn't suppose to be here. Kagami and Miwako only ever had one child, and that was Shisui.

What purpose was she to serve there? To try her hardest to change canon, like how some people in her situation would try to do? How exactly would she go about something such as that? What if she never got to be a ninja?

Sure, she was an Uchiha and she was working very hard right now. She'd pass the graduation test for sure, she could see it. But what about the real exam with her Jounin instructor? If her teammates didn't work with her as they should they would undoubtedly fail it. Big time.

Then, she could forget about making "changes". What's she to do from the sidelines, just how is she to prevent unfortunate happenings if not physically there to do so? She can't.

Like Obito's accident during the Third War, though that probably isn't the best example. There was a good chance that she wouldn't even be put onto Team Minato, so ninja or not she wouldn't be able to save him from that. If that were the case anyway.

Obito... she found it to be quite odd that she hadn't seen him anywhere yet. Considering the fact that he is a fellow Uchiha, you'd think he would have been seen walking around the compound. But, then again, he's an orphan. That was probably the reasoning, which made her automatically wonder just where it was that he lived.

An orphanage? That seemed like the more plausible answer to her.

She'd definitely catch sight of him once it was high time for Academy to begin, no doubt about that. Then, she would make sure he steered clear of the path of darkness. Ensure that he didn't fall victim to his curse of hatred. And the only other way she could do it without being on his team, was to make sure he never fell for Rin.

That was the only way that she could see it.

"You look like your thinking," She heard someone say, she looked up to see it was her father looming over her. "about your training I hope?"

She smiled. "Yes dad." she lied.

"Why the sudden name change? What happened to 'dada'?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Haruhi shrugged. "I don't know, that's what Kakashi-kun told me he calls _his_ dad." She tilted her head. "You don't like it?"

He waved it off. "Oh no, it's alright. You can call me that if you please." he said, ruffling her hair. She was growing up, she clearly wasn't going to refer to him as that forever.

Haruhi finally noticed that he had something behind his back. "What are hiding, dad?" she asked, attempting to look behind him. But he moved away.

"Just a little gift," he answered. "for you."

Her face brightened as she smiled. "A gift? For _me_?!" There was the child part of her, taking over again. "What is it, what is it?!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together.

Kagami chuckled, at her enthusiasm, then revealed to her what he had been hiding behind him. It was a cute plush toy, more specifically a Tiger. It was furry, it's arms and legs hanging loosely, and it was almost as big as her. It had the usual appearance of the animal, orange and covered with black stripes.

The Tiger was her most favorite animal ever, now as well as in her previous life. She almost wished she could have a real one, but this was just as good. "Your mother thought you deserved something, for all your hard work ... it was her idea." Yeah, _sure_ it was.

Haruhi squealed, snatching the toy from her father and giving it a tight squeeze. "Oh, thank you thank you _thank_ you dad! I love you!" she said, and it made him smile.

"Same here Haruhi." he said, then he stood up. Picking her up off of the bench and sitting her onto his hip. Walking down the road.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Haruhi had her head in the crook of Kagami's neck, an arm lazily draped over his shoulder while the other held a tight grip on her new "pet" (which she had named Tora). They were taking a walk around Konoha, something that only Miwako usually did. But it was nice for Haruhi, she got a little break from training and got to relax with Kagami.

Haruhi yawned, making Kagami glance down at her. "Tired?" She shook her head no, and he hiked her up a little more. "If you say so, Haruhi."

It was quiet for a little while after that, Haruhi had now fixed herself so she was turned around. Leaned against her father's chest, her head laying on his shoulder. She was beginning to drift off into slumber, she was no longer aware of what was going on around her.

But then she soon felt herself being moved, and she whined a little in response. Rubbing one of her eyes as Kagami shifted her back onto his hip. "It looks like she was asleep." a voice she didn't recognize observed.

"She was." Kagami said to that person, Haruhi turned to the man. She stared at him, he looked familiar but ... what was this guys name again? "Haruhi, this is my good friend and old teammate. Shimura Danzou."

Haruhi stiffened as Danzou gave her a smile, she didn't smile back. He did a lot of bad stuff in the future, but while it was for the greater good of the village and it's people ... it was still bad, right? "She looks like you, Kagami."

"I would hope so." he jested.

"What's that you have there?" he questioned, pointing at her stuffed animal. "I really like your Tiger, what's it's name?" She narrowed her eyes and puffed her cheeks out a little, clutching Tora closer to her and turning away from him. Danzou chuckled. "She seems to not only have your looks, but your attitude as well."

"Good, she'll need it." Kagami said, and Danzou nodded. Haruhi looked back at him again.

"Any _good_ ninja does, isn't that right?" Ninja? How did he know about her becoming a ninja in the future? Was it obvious because of her Uchiha heritage, or did Kagami happen to tell him while she was asleep? He leaned in a little, making her shrink back some. "If she's as good right now as you say, she'd make a fine addition to ROOT once she is older. Don't you think?"

She tried her very best to conceal her nervousness, now she was really uncomfortable. No, no way in fucking _hell_ was she gonna be a member of ROOT. "I can tell that she's destined for great things, so it's possible."

He was saying that without realizing just how wicked Dazou's group really was, no one knew what it was really like beneath the surface. ROOT was the sister organization to ANBU, that right there made people assume that they did nothing dastardly.

Danzou had trained the ROOT members to lose their emotions by growing up as brothers from a young age, only to later be made to kill each other. He did this as a means to kill of their bonds and emotional ties, they lacked any type of feeling afterwards.

It would prevent sentiment as well as the possibility of them growing any emotional attachment to anyone. They were basically striped of their humanity, and that wasn't happening to her. Not ever, she refused to live that life.

"No!" she exclaimed firmly, catching both men by surprise. "No no no no _no_!" She kicked her legs around as she said so, then turned away from him once she felt she made her point clear.

She heard Danzou chuckle. "How cute, but I'm more than sure she isn't aware of what I'm speaking about." She frowned, that was where he was definitely wrong. She knew a lot of things that she wasn't suppose to.

"You know how children can be." Kagami waved off. "Anyway ..." She tuned them out after that, she didn't want to hear a word more of what they were saying. Just in case they said something, dealing with her, that she didn't like again.

ROOT members were usually recruited young, she wondered how they fared with that. Probably well enough, as they wouldn't know what would become of them and the ones around them in the future.

She knew it was bad stuff, but what exactly did the members do in the organization? Whatever Danzou ordered them to of course, but what else? How young were they when they were sent off on infiltration missions? Child ROOT spies were pretty much the norm, no one would suspect a kid.

Did they ever have to kill anyone? She prayed not, if so then those poor souls. It was unfair, she was positive that most of those people had been taken away from their families and clans. Being in that group appeared to be quite the traumatic experience.

It seemed like the kind of way of life that would give one reoccurring nightmares, dealing with those they betrayed or even murdered. An organization that would leave you to be very untrusting of others, or was she just over thinking it?

Maybe she was, but bad people had been associated with ROOT. Like Orochimaru and Kabuto, she kind of couldn't help it.

"—and goodbye to you too, little Haruhi." Danzou said, patting her on the head. He gave a wave to Kagami then went on his way, Haruhi watched him leave. She hoped she wouldn't see him too often, but if him and her Father were as close as they appeared to be then chances are she would.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

The next morning, she had nothing to do yet again. Kagami was out, what he was doing she wasn't aware, and Miwako was in the front room. Meanwhile, she was in the back of the house in her "training room". Aka Kagami's study.

She wasn't suppose to be in here, but she was searching for something. Chakra slips, and she was sure her father kept some in here. He had just about everything else.

She wanted to see what her nature would be, obviously fire due to her Uchiha blood. But it wasn't rare, nor very common, for an Uchiha to be dual-natured. If she in fact did have two, she wanted to know what the other would be.

If she didn't, well then that was just one less mystery.

She sighed, tossing another book onto the ground. Where would he keep them? She looked around, there were mostly shelves filled with books and tables with scrolls sprawled out across them. Then her eyes fell upon a chest that was in the far corner, she hadn't looked there yet.

She trotted over to it and kneeled down, she flipped the latch open and lifted the top up. She saw them, the slips of rectangular paper she had been searching for. All there and neatly placed.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, taking one. Then her eyes darted around inside some more, filled to the brim with curiosity. She saw some weapons, papers, but what stuck out the most was a lone photograph.

"What's this?" she muttered to herself, taking it out. It was a picture of Kagami, he appeared to be pretty young. No older than five at least.

He was standing with someone in the photo, they had their hand on his head. Who it was made her suck in a quick breath, it was Madara Uchiha. Her mouth fell open a little.

"Haruhi!" She suddenly heard Miwako call, causing her to spring up and slam the chest closed. She winced, she didn't mean to close it so loudly. She heard nothing for a second, then quick steps could be heard. They were heading towards the study.

"Haruhi? Haruhi, are you in here?" The door opened, and Miwako jumped a little. Surprised to actually see that she was in there. She narrowed her eyes, and put her hands on her hips. "_What_are you doing in here?"

"U-Um ..." She had the picture behind her back, and held up the chakra paper. "I was looking for this."

"And what is that?" Miwako questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"It's something that'll tell me what my chakra nature is, my friend Kakashi told me about it!" She wasn't being truthful about that, but she'd probably ask Kagami about it if she said he was the one who told her.

Since it wouldn't make sense, if he thought the knowledge of having two natures was important.. it would've been brought up during her chakra lessons. He probably assumed it was only fire, Miwako sighed. "Haruhi ... you know you aren't allowed in here without your father present, this could've waited until he got home."

Well, curiosity had gotten the better of her. "I know, I'm really sorry Mama!" She lowered her head. "Please don't tell dad..."

Miwako was silent, staring, then she finally sighed. "If you promise to keep out of his things, then I won't."

Haruhi quickly nodded her head. "Alright, I promise." She let the paper go, keeping the photo behind her back, and trotted up to her mother. "But I, uh, have something to ask."

"What is it?"

Haruhi looked down, away from her, then looked back at her as she slowly revealed the picture to her. "Who's this man?" She wasn't asking because she didn't know, she was very well aware, but because she wanted to hear what Miwako knew.

She gasped a little, taking the picture from Haruhi's grasp and gazing at it. "... Where did you find this?"

"The same place I found the chakra thingies," She pointed at the chest. "in there."

"Why do you want to know who this is?"

"Because dad's in the picture too." She tilted her head. "Is he Grandpa?"

Miwako immediately shook her head, "Oh _heavens_ no, he's a very distant relative." She looked away from the photo and at her Daughter. "But, who he is is something you don't need to concern yourself with."

"Then I'll just have to ask dad."

Miwako pursed her lips. "Then _dad_ will know you were in here while he wasn't home." Damn it, she was right.

But, Haruhi only shrugged. "I'll ask anyway."

Miwako sighed, she didn't want her asking Kagami about this. "... His name... was Uchiha Madara."

Something she knew already. "He's got our last name, mama!" she exclaimed, and Haruhi nodded.

"He was a member of our clan, he was it's leader during a time. In fact, he founded this village along side the Shodaime. Senju Hashirama." Miwako explained, and Haruhi nodded.

"Dad taught me about Shodai-sama, but I never heard about Madara-san. How come dad never told me about him if he knew him?" she questioned, and Miwako shrugged.

"I'm sure he had his own reasons." Haruhi could tell that her mother really wasn't aware, so she didn't press further on that matter.

"What happened to him?" she asked, since she actually couldn't recall that bit on her own.

"Well, while him and Hashirama-sama worked together to make Konoha a good place, Madara-san eventually came to an impasse with him." She chuckled, remembering she was speaking to a child. She wouldn't know the meaning of the word 'impasse'. "They weren't friendly with each other anymore."

"And then what happened?" Haruhi asked.

Miwako sighed. "Well, Madara-san eventually permanently left the village. Soon he and Hashirama-san had a brutal battle, at a location by the name of 'Valley of the End'. It was Shodai-sama who came out victorious."

"What happened to Madara-san?"

Miwako waved a hand. "He perished there, that place is his grave." So, everyone thought he was dead then? That obviously wasn't the truth if Obito ended up meeting him. Where was he now? She wondered.

"Now enough questions." Miwako said, handing her the picture back. "It's time for lunch, put that back and don't tell your father about what I just told you. Don't even _mention_ it." she said as she shooed the little girl.

Haruhi quickly put the picture back in the chest after giving it one more glance. Then Miwako pulled her out of the room, closing the door behind her.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

She thought about him while she was trying to sleep, Madara Uchiha. There wasn't much that she knew about the man, as he was a character that she neglected to pay much attention to. But there was one thing about him that was crystal clear to her.

The Eye of the Moon plan, his plan to ensure worldwide peace.

It was something he was very serious about, so much so that he convinced Obito to take over the plan for him. Instead of just letting it go once he got too old.

She had fallen asleep while having him on her mind. She didn't know why, but he was very intriguing.

She saw darkness around her, she was laying on something cold and hard. She could hear murmuring, but it was so unclear. She couldn't understand a word of it, it even recognize the voice. It was then that she saw a gleaming red in front of her, a little far away.

The red glow split into two, and it began to reshape itself. Until it formed into a pair of identical eyes, pupil and all. They grew bigger, she could see the comma-like markings in each one. It was the Sharingan.

The murmuring got louder and the tomoe began to spin, almost as if they were trying to hypnotize her...

Haruhi gasped as she shot up in her bed, she was breathing a little heavily. Sweat sprinkled on her forehead. It was only a dream. She kicked her sheets off and brought her knees up to her chest.

What was it suppose to be? So many questions were running through her head, what was the meaning of that nightmare? But most of all, what was that voice and what was it saying?

* * *

**Author's Note: **A lot of shifting around in this chapter huh? It was kinda necessary. I really hate putting the same word next to each other, like 'her her', even if it grammatically correct. Lol I'm freaking weird I swear...

**Question: **If you had to guess, how do you think Haruhi will become an Antagonist?

Remember what I always say, don't be a ghost reader! Giving me the thoughts that are probably dying to leave that gorgeous head!


	4. Chapter four: Ninja Academy

**Author's Note: **I think this might be my new favorite story to write. Thank you for all the favorites, follows, and reviews. I appreciate them and you!

**Answer: —**None, as it would contain story spoilers—

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

**Edited: September 5, 2014**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_Ninja Academy_

* * *

At a solid five years old, Haruhi had learned more than a child her age should know. There were others, like Kakashi, who knew just as much, but that was different. There were names for people like them, geniuses and prodigies. The clan knew of Haruhi because of Kagami, and they all looked at her in the same light. They saw her as a gifted child, a very smart young one destined for greatness. She was just what they expected, being her father's child.

But, little did they know, she was nothing of the sort. The reality of it was that she wasn't a genius, she had the knowledge of an adult and the spongy brain of a child. She wasn't a prodigy, she had the mentality to appreciate what she was learning; so she worked hard. She was different from the average person in this world, so on the outside she seemed to be those things. But on the inside, she was just so ... abnormal compared to many others.

She was different, odd, and it made her appear to be something that she wasn't. But there was no use in voicing her feelings out loud, there would be no point. Their image of her could be whatever they saw fit.

She was with Kagami now, standing around many other children and families for the Academy entrance ceremony. All waiting for the Sandaime to make his appearance, yet Haruhi's mind seemed to be elsewhere.

The dream, the spinning Sharingan, it was reoccurring. At least three nights a week she would have it, starting and ending the very same each and every time. It was maddening, the reason for her constant nightmare still so unclear.

She had it again last night, waking up a few hours before she was suppose to be up. She laid there awake the rest of the night, she couldn't fall back to sleep. The murmurs were just as unclear as they had been the first time, they were still so incomprehensible.

"Hello, Haruhi-chan." she heard Kakashi say, snapping her from her own thoughts. She looked up at his masked face and smiled.

"Hey Kakashi-kun," She looked up at Sakumo, about to tell him 'hello', but saw that he was speaking to Kagami. She looked back at her silver haired friend, "how do you feel about starting school?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, but I do know it'll be a breeze." he said, crossing his arms. "How does everyone else look to you?"

She actually hadn't acknowledged the people around her, too much on her mind to worry about it. She now looked around at everyone else, their were a few girls wearing frilly dresses ... they didn't seem like the ninja type. There were some, girl as well as boy, sticking _very_ close to their parents. She couldn't really tell from the way they looked.

"Not sure, what about you?" she asked him.

"They don't look like much." he answered, aloof as ever. "Honestly, we're probably the only ones here with any _real_ promise."

Sakumo seemed to hear that bit, as he looked down at his son. "That isn't a very nice thing to say, Kakashi."

The young boy looked up at him. "What? I was just saying dad, they look—"

"You should never be fooled by looks." Sakumo interjected. "A person can look weak, but could also surpass even me in strength Kakashi." Kakashi said nothing, not really understanding how that was possible. If they looked weak, then chances are they were. Right?

Kagami nodded. "That's right."

"How?" Kakashi asked.

"Because, sometimes things are never what they appear to be. Merely appearing that way for the sake of fooling you, only to surprise you with what's hidden beneath the surface." Kagami answered, and he couldn't have been more right.

Kakashi looked at Haruhi. "Do you believe that?"

She was very quick to nod, crossing her arms. "Yeah, cause my dad is _never_wrong." she said, making the two adult men chuckle. Kakashi muttering a 'whatever'.

It didn't take much more waiting, for Hiruzen to walk out. With little wrinkles, the color in his beard still there. Kagami pushed Haruhi forward as Sakumo told the two children to go sit with the other kids.

"I wanna sit up front." Kakashi said, grabbing Haruhi by the arm and pulling her along. They pushed past many other kids, then were right there in front of the Hokage. Ironically, along with all of the other kids of Kakashi's year. Like Kurenai, Genma, Gai, even Rin. Yet, no sign of Obito.

Hiruzen smiled down at all of the potential shinobi, then glanced up at the parents. Many of them were clan members, some civilians. He caught sight of Sakumo and Kagami, who both smirked at him, then he looked down at their children. Kakashi and Haruhi.

"Welcome." he began, putting his hands behind his back. "Today, is the start of something new. The day that all of you work hard to one day protect this land, just as some of your parents have." His eyes flickered at Haruhi and Kakashi again. "To be the protectors of the ones who cannot protect themselves, the very backbone of Konohagakure. When I look at you all, I don't only see future ninja. I see the smallest of flames, ones that will grow to be even brighter than the sun. The greatest Will of Fire that any generation has ever seen."

Haruhi smiled, that made her confidence grow. The other kids probably didn't know what the Will of Fire was, but she did. Kagami told her, it was the will to protect your home. Konoha. To put it above all else, to protect it with every fiber of your being. That was what it truly meant, to have the Will of Fire.

"You will all do great things for this village one day, you will all make it _proud_ one day. And for that reason it gives great joy for me, Sarutobi Hiruzen — Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure — to humbly welcome you all to the Academy. I hope your years here will be the best they possibly can." he concluded, and everyone clapped.

Some kids ran up to Hiruzen, while others like Kakashi and Haruhi walked back to their parents. When they got back to Kagami and Sakumo, they both handed the two kids each a small packet of papers. Already filled out.

"Be sure to hand this to your sensei." Kagami told her as she took them, it was her application form. Kagami kneeled down to her level, resting a hand on her head as he smiled at her. "... Do your best," he said, then brought her in for a hug. "I love you."

This was a little surprising, as Kagami normally wasn't one for sentiment. But all the same she hugged him back. "I love you too, dad." She really did.

He pulled away, giving her one last smile before standing back up. After Sakumo hugged Kakashi, him and Kagami left together. Along with all of the other parents.

All of the teachers were lining up next to each other, clapboards in their hands. It was now time for the classes to be assigned, shouting could be heard in the distance. It made Kakashi, Haruhi, and many others turn around to see what it was.

It was a little boy, orange goggles on his head, running up to the entrance. Once he was in, he skid to a halt in front of everyone, resting his hands on his knees and breathing heavily. He was a bit red in the face, and you could see some beads of sweat. He must have been running for a while.

"Oh ... man ..." he said, between breaths. He leaned back up, lifting his goggles to wipe his forehead. "I—I'm late! I missed ... the ceremony ... didn't I?" he asked as he put his goggles back down.

"Yes, yes you did." Kakashi answered, making Obito groan. Haruhi looked around, for where those admission packets were. Her eyes finally fell onto a table, where one more laid. She tucked her papers under her arm and jogged to it, quickly grabbing them at the same time someone else did.

Unsurprisingly, it was Rin Nohara. "Oh!" she exclaimed, a little surprised. "Um ... I-I'm sorry, but I think you have yours already." she said, glancing down at the packet under her arm. "That boy over there was late, and these are the last ones. So—"

"They're for him?" Haruhi finished first her, then pulled harder on the packet. Yanking them and making it slip from Rin's grasp, "Yeah, I _know_." she said, then walked away. Leaving the little brown haired girl wide eyed and a little stunned.

She was probably a little meaner than she intended to be, but she had her reasons. The fact that Rin was the purpose behind Obito becoming Tobi and throwing his life away irked her a little. She involuntarily took it out on the little girl however, that was wrong. She wasn't completely to blame for such a thing, but she could apologize to her another time.

She walked up to Obito, who pouted at the ground, and handed his form out to him. He blinked at them, then looked up at the smiling face of Haruhi. "These are for you." she said, and he took them.

"Oh, wow thanks a lot!" he said, skimming over it. He looked up at her again. "Who are you?"

"Uchiha Haruhi." she answered, making him beam. At the fact of her being from the Uchiha clan. "Who are you?" As if she hadn't known already.

"Uchiha Obito!" he exclaimed, then put his hands on his hips as he held his head high. "Otherwise known as the future Hokage!" he said, proudly.

Kakashi tilted his head, this kid seemed like he was a little too goofy. He didn't even fit the image of the usual Uchiha, forget about Hokage.

Haruhi giggled at how cute he was being, but he took it as her laughing at his dream, people usually did that when he voiced it. "Hey! What's funny, huh?!" he exclaimed.

"Nothing." Haruhi said, the smile had yet to leave her face. "It's just ... I believe you."

He gasped a little ... no one had ever told him anything like that before. The corners of his mouth twitched up, and soon he was grinning again. "T-Thanks!" he said, then shook his head. "I mean, you should! Cause it's gonna be _my_ head on that monument one day, I'll show _everybody_!"

Some kids stared at him blankly, while Kakashi rolled his eyes. They all soon crowded around the teachers, as the names for the classes started to be called. There were six standing there, all men, and Haruhi didn't hear her name from the first five. Nor Kakashi's, that meant the last man would be their teacher. She was glad they wouldn't be separated, he was the only person she was familiar with.

"I am Tanaka Edo, and my students are ..." the last sensei — a man with black hair and light brown eyes — trailed as he looked down at his list. She didn't recognize any of the names when he started calling them. She heard Kakashi's, just as expected, then soon heard Rin's. "... Uchiha Haruhi, Uchiha Obito, and Yuhi Kurenai." he concluded.

The children were then directed to follow their respective sensei inside, and Kakashi immediately grabbed Haruhi's arm. Making sure she didn't step too far away from him, she was the only one here he was really use to (and comfortable with) being around. They both merged with their fellow classmates, and followed Edo into the building.

Obito jogged up to catch up with them all, as he'd just finished filling out his papers, and went straight to Haruhi and Kakashi. "So," he started, rubbing the back of his head. "Edo-sensei really lucked out huh? Having two awesome Uchiha in his class, I mean."

"And a Hatake." she said, nodding over at Kakashi.

"Hatake?" He repeated, then looked at Kakashi questioningly. "Like, Hatake_Sakumo_? The White Fang?"

"He's my dad." Kakashi said as he nodded, and Obito grinned.

"Well then, it looks like I've got some competition!" He put his hands behind his head. "But I have to warn you, I'm pretty skilled."

"I don't really believe that ..." Kakashi muttered, then flinched when Haruhi elbowed him. The class walked into a big room with bench-like seating, the wall opposite of them made entirely of glass. Letting in natural light.

Some of the kids ooed, some girls commenting on how pretty it looked. "This will be our classroom," Edo said, taking the forms from the kids one-by-one. "over hear is where your lunches will go." he said as he stepped over to the cubbyhole. He showed them where ninja tools and many other materials were, then lead them out of the room.

He brought them outside, to a back portion of the Academy. This was where they would have class outside some days, there were posts, practice dummies, and targets put up. He broke down what exactly they would be practicing out here, like their taijutsu and throwing abilities.

"During this year, we will touch a little on chakra." Edo started, crossing his arms. "After that, we will be practicing the basics of taijutsu. As well as building your strength and knowledge."

"Basically, stuff that we know already?" Kakashi whispered to Haruhi, who nodded. From what she was hearing, the two of them wouldn't be learning anything new.

"I see that my class is big." he said, as his eyes swept over all of the children. "Things might sound like they're easy and simple right now, but from here on they will only get harder as the years go on. This is no game, being a ninja isn't 'fun'. I'm sure a lot of you thought so, but you're utterly wrong."

"The life of a shinobi is a demanding one, it isn't some huge party. You need to learn discipline and take your training as serious as humanly possible, if not ... then you don't belong here. Believe me when I say that, when it comes high time for you all to graduate, the numbers in this class won't be even half this large."

There was silence, with the exception of a few murmurs. Edo smirked. "Now, while I'm on the subject of graduation, I suppose I should inform you. The graduation exam is given every two years, starting with the one that will be held at the end of_this_ year. In case of any early graduates."

His eyes had flickered over at Kakashi and Haruhi before sweeping over the other children. Haruhi had no plans of graduating right now, she wanted to stay and learn what she could. But Kakashi was set to graduate at five, he was still four (soon to be five) right now. He'd be gone by this year.

"Should you take it and fail," he shrugged. "well then there's always next time. It is, however, only optional. So I assume any of you would only take it with the full intention of passing." he explained. "Now, if you'll please follow me, I'll show you the rest of the Academy."

After the tour of the school was complete, Obito had been very eager to get his training started. But, to his disappointment, class wasn't actually starting today; but tomorrow. And before he could actually begin learning anything, he and all the other children had to unlock his chakra coils. As Haruhi had informed him, much to his dismay.

"This isn't fair ..." he muttered, crossing his arms. All of the kids were now outside, waiting to be picked up.

Haruhi put a hand on his shoulder. "It isn't the end of the world Obito-kun." He smiled at 'kun'. "You're still young, plus Academy just started. You've got to learn the basic stuff before you can learn anything else."

"You have to crawl before you can walk." Kakashi simplified, and Haruhi nodded.

"Exactly! I can even help you if you want." Obito raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean help me? You can't use your chakra yet either ... can you?" he questioned, and Haruhi giggled while Kakashi scoffed.

"Yes she can," the masked boy said. "we both know how to mold our chakra already."

"Seriously?" he asked, and Haruhi nodded. Then, he turned to Kakashi. "_You_ can do that stuff too?!" he huffed. "Man ... that's so unfair!"

"It's not unfair, just because you didn't have anyone to teach you." Kakashi said, and Obito froze. His shoulders dropped and he got a sad look in his eyes.

Kakashi wasn't aware that Obito was an orphan, no one outside the Uchiha clan really knew about it. "Kakashi-kun!" Haruhi scolded. "Don't say that!"

He blinked, then shrugged. "Why? Obviously it's true" She ignored him, he was just a kid right now. He didn't know any better.

She turned to Obito. "I can help you Obito-kun." He shook his head, then forced a smile.

"No ... that's alright Haruhi-chan ..." he said. "A cool guy like me doesn't need any help, I'm gonna be Hokage remember?"

She nodded. "I know, but ..." she trailed, then shook her head. Giving him a smile. "I just want you to know, I'll always be here for you Obito-kun." she said, then held up her hand. "Besides, I wanna be right there by your side once you get there. As your trusted adviser!"

He stared at her, the sadness slowly leaving his face. That seemed to lift his spirits a lot, he grinned and gave her a high-five. "Well then consider the job yours!"

She laughed, and Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Oh brother ..." he muttered.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

After a week into the school year, and practicing all through class time, the other kids were now able to use their chakra. When Edo found out Haruhi and Kakashi's coils were already unlocked, he moved them onto the leaf exercise. Only to find out they could keep the leaf secure to their forehead without a problem, it was impressive.

But also what he would expect from an Uchiha and the child of the White Fang. So, for that moment, they did nothing more than school work while the other kids practiced the leaf exercise. It was pretty boring, especially for Haruhi.

The work was so simple that she didn't have to try at all, Kagami had given her much more difficult material than this. But her sensei wouldn't know that, she wouldn't tell him either. She would rather not be labeled the 'star pupil' or anything like it. Not only would she feel like a show-off, but it would separate her from the other kids.

She didn't want to be anymore different than she already felt, though Kakashi was a different story. He made his intelligence and abilities known and it impressed quite a few girls. He was gonna have a fangirl army at this rate. Which was actually weird, why would six year old girls care about boys? A barely even five years old boy at that.

This universe was a strange one.

"Man ..." Obito groaned, as the leaf slipped off again. Haruhi stopped what she was writing and turned to him, then he looked at her when he noticed she was staring. "... Have any tips?" She smiled at him, and he cleared his throat. "Not that I _need_ them or anything. I just... you know, if I really needed them ... what would you tell me?"

"Hmmm ..." she hummed, as she tapped her pencil on her chin. "Well ... you just need to practice and concentrate, or start small."

"Start small?" he repeated. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"I mean start somewhere easy, like your hands." she answered. "That was how I learned, it helps." He started down at his leaf, the nodded.

"Alright ... thanks Haruhi-chan!" he said, then remembered. "F-For answering my question I mean."

She went back to her as assignment, jotting down the answers to the corresponding questions. "You're welcome, Obito-kun."

He did just as she said for the rest of class, sticking the leaf to his hands. And it was a little hard for him to do it that way, so he guessed this was where "practice and concentration" came into play. He had time for practice, a lot more time than he would like to have.

It was now lunchtime, they only had an hour and Kakashi had told Haruhi he wanted to train with her. So, they would eat their food quick and not waste a second. At least that was _his_ plan.

They were both at the door, everyone but Obito were gone, and Haruhi looked over at the fellow Uchiha. Who stood alone at the cubby, his Bento in his hand. "Obito-kun!" Haruhi called, making him look up. "Would you like to eat with us?"

"What?" Kakashi asked, just as Obito agreed and hurried over. "What are asking him that for? I thought we were gonna train."

"We are," she said, when Obito stopped on the side of her. "but having someone else around isn't gonna hurt." she said, and he rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he said, then started to leave. "c'mon then." He didn't exactly want Obito around, not that he really had a problem with him. It's just that he preferred it to be just the two of them, he was accustom to things being that way. So Obito suddenly being added to their duo ... well, he kind of didn't like it.

Plus, he seemed like he would only slow the two of them down. He couldn't even stick a leaf to his forehead for crying out loud.

Haruhi and Obito both followed him out, Kakashi and her staying quiet while Obito rambled on about lord knows what. Haruhi could tell Kakashi didn't really care for Obito being around them, and it confused her.

He had been so open when they first met, he was a little different now for some reason. She shook her head, there were times when she didn't really get him.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

They were all outside, in back of the school instead of the front with the other children. Kakashi ate his food in silence, as did Haruhi. According to Kakashi, talking while you ate was time consuming. It made the time it took to eat your food lengthen, and they only had an hour for lunch.

The less they spoke, the more time they had to train. But Obito didn't like the silence, it made him a little bit ... awkward. "Hey, uh, Haruhi-chan?"

Haruhi moved her chopsticks away from her mouth. "Yes Obito-kun?"

"Can you ... you know, show me the leaf thing again?" He scratched his cheek, a tad embarrassed that he was even asking. "I just wanna see how you do it."

She opened her mouth to answer, but Kakashi did before she got the chance. "She can't, we're gonna be training after we eat." He looked up at him. "But she can't finish her food if you're distracting her with your talking."

"Kakashi-kun!" Haruhi exclaimed, and he shrugged. Resuming eating, she turned to Obito. "I'll show you, then you've gotta practice some more."

He nodded, then ate quickly. He was done before Haruhi and Kakashi, and she sat her food down to demonstrate the leaf trick. She stuck it to her forehead, and it easily stayed there. "There more practice, the easier it gets." She took off his goggles, then stuck the leaf to his head after pulling it from her own. "Ready?"

"Ready." He focused his chakra and she let her finger go, he cupped his hands below his forehead in case it fell.

"Remember, concentrate." she reminded.

"Yeah yeah, I got it. I got it!" he said, struggling to hold the leaf in place. Haruhi turned to Kakashi who stood with his arms crossed.

"We've got half an hour left, and I'm done. Are you done?" he questioned, and they both glanced down at her Bento. It was still just a quarter full, she sighed. She could finish it later.

"Yeah, I'm done." she said, squatting down to close it up. He uncrossed his arms, nodding his head.

"Great."

"Dang it!" Obito exclaimed, as the leaf had fallen off. "I'm not giving up!" he said, sticking it back on and trying again.

"And he's busy, even better." he muttered the last part.

"What did you want to do?" she asked as she stepped up closer to him.

"I actually wanted to show you something," he said. "my dad has been teaching me the Body Replacement technique. I wanted to teach you how to do it, in case Kagami-san hasn't yet."

"Oh." She shook her head. "No, he hasn't yet. How do you do it?"

"You basically replace your body with another object, it's a very useful thing in battle." he explained, and Obito began to listen. "It kind of creates an illusion, making the enemy think their attack was successful. From that, you can use the lag in the their attention to attack or run from the battlefield."

Obito pouted, that sounded cool. He wanted to learn it too, instead he was learning how to hold some stupid leaf.

"I can't show you much, but I can teach you how to do it. So you can practice on your own." He picked up a rock.

"Wait!" She held up her hands. "Don't you have to show me first?!"

He chuckled. "Of course I'm gonna show you, then you'll have to practice; by getting hit with stuff." This jutsu suddenly didn't sound all that great anymore.

* * *

**Author's Note: **And now Obito has been introduced, I wonder how many of you were waiting for that lol. Wasn't he just the cutest kid?

**Question: **If you could be any of the characters, who would it be and why?

Don't be a Ghost Reader, I'll call Ghost Busters. Thanks for reading, I'll see you next time!


	5. Chapter five: Great Fireball

**hor's Note: **Another update, I bet you guys are just eating this up. Aren't you? Nah, probably not.

**Answer: **Tsunade, definitely her. While she had a very hard life and a lot to live up to (and while that's probably too much for me) her justsus are just awesome. She's a grade A medic nin, and Creation Rebirth is a really handy technique. She's just too awesome in my eyes.

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

**Edited: September 5, 2014**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_Great Fireball_

* * *

She hadn't practiced the Body Replacement technique that often, because she quite frankly hadn't enjoyed getting pelted with objects. While that had been the only effective way for her to learn, who exactly would enjoy something like that? Even Kakashi had told her he didn't like it, but then again he didn't care _too_ much about it either. As he wanted to learn the jutsu hands down.

However, just because she didn't like it, that didn't mean she was incapable of doing it. But she undoubtedly needed more practice, sure, but there was time for that.

She'd gone through that whole year without really learning much. Haruhi had gotten better in taijutsu, from her teachings from the Academy and Kagami both, and she had practiced her chakra control more. Now being able to hold nine leaves instead of seven, that was about all the progress she had gotten. Aside from the jutsu she learned from Kakashi, that is.

Kakashi, he was no longer in the Academy. He graduated at the end of that year, passing the exit exam with flying colors. He was put under the guidance of Minato Namikaze immediately afterwards, that was what he'd told her one day; even though she was aware already. According to him he was a really good sensei, though he wouldn't be qualified for a full team for at least two more years. Which worked fine, since Kakashi wouldn't be getting a team until two more people from his year graduated.

That thought made her think about what her future team would be like.

_'I think about the future too much ...' _Haruhi thought to herself as she finished packing her books away. She needed to focus on the now instead.

She was the last in the classroom, the last to leave, as she'd stayed behind to speak with Edo. He discussed the graduation test with her, much like he did with both her and Kakashi the previous year. There was a way around her having to wait the two years, according to him.

All he would have to do was move her up two classes, then she would be able to take the exam with the older children. As nice as his offer had been, it was nice he even cared enough to give her the idea, she turned it down. She was use to the presence of her classmates, she didn't want to just be stuck with a bunch of strangers. Especially not ones that weren't even her age, she didn't want to be separated from Obito either.

He was the only friend she really had, that still attended Academy with her. She had no qualms in waiting for the exam, there were no worries. Even if Edo felt she was wasting her time, in classes she apparently didn't appear to need.

She walked towards the open door, about to take her leave, when someone ran to a stop in front of her. It was Rin. The brown haired girl gasped in surprise, she hadn't expected to see Haruhi in here. "Um ... excuse me." she said, squeezing past her. Not even looking at her.

Haruhi turned around and watched her, seeing Rin walk over to her desk and pick up a book off the ground. She must've forgotten it. Rin held the book close to her, her eyes filled with nervousness when she saw Haruhi looking. And all she did was stand there, looking at everything except the young Uchiha.

Rin had avoided her ever since the first day, or at least tried to (they _were_ in the same class). They were enrolled in the after school kunoichi class together, and every time they were paired together for an assignment Rin would keep her distance. And not say a word.

"What's your problem?" Haruhi finally asked, after all the silence. The way Rin was acting was annoying her, it kind of always did.

Rin opened her mouth, as if she were going to reply, but then she quickly shut it. Tapping her fingers on her book. "Well?" Haruhi asked. "If you've got some kind of problem with me—"

"I don't _have_ a problem with you!" Rin said, catching Haruhi a bit off guard. "You don't like me, so ..." she trailed, sighing. "... so I just stay out of your way." Her eyes narrowed. "I just came here for my book, not to get messed with."

Haruhi blinked, when did she ever say she didn't like her. She's barely ever spoken to her. "I never said I didn't like you." Haruhi said, bluntly.

Rin shook her head. "Well, the first day ... you snatched those papers from me. And you were glaring at me too! You didn't have to say it."

Well, she didn't know she was glaring at her. She hadn't meant to do that, she was just thinking about all that future mess. What she was thinking was also affecting what she was feeling, she supposed. Maybe she got a little in over her head, Rin's a nice girl. She gave her the wrong impression, Haruhi rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, then I'm sorry."

Rin looked at her, a little taken back. She wasn't expecting to hear that, she tilted her head. "You're ... you're sorry?"

Haruhi nodded. "Yeah, I didn't mean to act like that. I just ..."

"You were just having a bad morning then, I guess?" she answered for her, Haruhi scratched her cheek. Well, what was she suppose to say? 'No, I just wanted you to stay away from Uchiha Obito.' How would that make her sound?

"Uh, yeah." she answered, and Rin gave a smile. "I apologize for giving you the wrong idea."

Rin's smile grew wider. "It's alright," she said, trotting up to her. "now we can be friends!" Haruhi chuckled, well that was quite fast; why not?

They both left the classroom together, and the second they got outside Obito ran up to them. "There you are, Haruhi-chan!" he exclaimed. "Are you ready to walk home?" Obito asked, she nodded.

It turned out, he actually did live at the compound. In that same old apartment he lived in in canon. Now, whether someone was paying for him to stay there or not was beyond her. But she wouldn't ask. Since they were going the same way, they always walked there together. That, and since Kagami said she'd be walking home herself. Since he wouldn't be able to pick her up everyday anyway.

When Miwako heard this, she didn't like it; not one bit. She said Haruhi was too little, that a six year old shouldn't be walking all alone. To which Kagami of course told her Haruhi was no baby, and that she needed to stop treating her as such.

In a way, walking home with Obito was also a way to reassure her mother. When one really thought about it.

"Bye Haruhi-san!" Rin chimed, as Obito grabbed her hand and pulled her away. Haruhi gave her a wave, along with a 'goodbye', Obito unsurprisingly not giving Rin another glance. Since he met Haruhi first, he stuck to her like glue. He never got to know Rin, and everybody else pretty much ignored him. Mostly due to his show-offy attitude, and his self proclaimed 'future Hokage' status.

"Do you wanna hang out later?" Obito asked as they walked out of the entrance, a hopeful look in his eyes. But, unfortunately, Haruhi shook her head.

"I can't, my dad wants me straight home today." As much as she'd like to spend time with him, Kagami more than likely had something to show her. These days, she couldn't afford to skip her home training.

Now that Haruhi was older, and in school, Kagami was being called on missions once again. He wasn't at home as often, so any training she did was on her own. Him being around to coach now was a privilege, something she couldn't just shirk.

"Oh, maybe another time then ..." he trailed disappointed.

"... If I'm free after school tomorrow, then I can. All day if you want." she said, in an attempt to lift his spirits.

He grinned, enjoying the thought of that idea. "Great, I'm gonna hold you to that!"

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Haruhi and Kagami stood in Training Ground Three, Kagami in his usual Jounin attire. He had told her that they would need a lot of space, for what he wanted to teach her. "You're growing up Haruhi." he pointed out. "And because of that, I think it's time you start learning our clan's jutsu."

She raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Our 'coming of age technique', you won't be considered an adult, or even wear the family crest, until you learn it. The Great Fireball technique." he explained, and her mouth fell open a little.

Well, that was shocking to hear. She wasn't sure if she was ready for that, since the only actual jutsu she knew was the Body Replacement and Walking on Water techniques. If you could even call the latter a jutsu, and weren't element techniques harder to learn than normal ones?

"D-Do you ... think I can, dad?" she asked, doubting herself a little. Kagami nodded.

"I know you can, I believe in you." he said, getting down on one knee. So he was at eye level with her. "But, if you feel you aren't prepared for that, we can save it for when you're older." He didn't want to put pressure on her.

Her eyes shifted to the ground, she didn't know what she wanted to do. While she felt a bit discouraged, she also wanted to learn it. Make Kagami proud of her, she wanted to see his proud smile at her accomplishment. She shook her head. "Teach me, dad!" she exclaimed, with a look full of determination.

She was gonna master this.

Kagami smiled. "I'd like you to keep that kind of attitude _all_ the time." he said, standing back up. "Your chakra reserves are a little bigger than the usual child's, but this is normal amongst the clan. Better for you to learn it now than later, for they will only grow as you get older."

She nodded, it was true that the more chakra you had; the more difficult it was to mold. Kagami crossed his arms. "Now, to perform this technique, you need to knead your chakra inside your body. Which will convert it into fire, which should be simple enough if you're only fire affinity. The key thing to remember about it, however, is to _control_ the volume of chakra that you muster. Since that alone determines the scope of the attack, don't want to accidentally injure someone." he explained to her, and she nodded again. "These are the hand seals." he said, proceeding to demonstrate for her.

_Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger_

"And this ..." he trailed, as his chest started to expand. "Is the jutsu." He then let out a gigantic blaze, stretching really far and stopping after a few seconds. He looked at Haruhi, smirking when he saw the look on her face. "You know how to concentrate chakra, knowing the Walking on Water technique should make this simpler for you." he said, then nodded at her. "Give it a try."

She nodded, then held her hands up. She took a deep breath, then began to make the hand seals. "Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger ..." she muttered to herself, out loud, as if it would help in her concentration. At first, nothing was happening. She looked at Kagami, who raised an eyebrow.

"It helps to try and picture the transformation of your chakra." he advised, and Haruhi nodded. She did the hand seals once more, closing her eyes as she pictured a huge blaze. She could feel warmth in her stomach, then it started to slowly rise up.

She beamed. _'I'm doing it!' _she excitedly thought, as the warmth reached her throat. Then, she blew it out. But, to her disappointment, the only thing that came out was a tiny flicker of fire and some smoke/ash. She coughed, small smoke clouds coming out, then turned to her father.

He had a neutral expression on his face, sighing. Then he gave her a small nod. "It's alright, this is a difficult jutsu, just try it again." That was different, from the usual head shake of disappointment.

She did try again, and again, and then again. Each time she got the same result. They stood in that training ground for an hour, with no real progress. Eventually, Kagami made her stop. So she wouldn't run all of her chakra to a low level.

She needed a lot of practice, but Kagami tried to reassure her. Saying that her being able to make at least _a little_ fire was a pretty good thing. That when he first started practicing it, nothing came out at all.

Haruhi laughed when he told her that, as she didn't really believe it. Not after that fire she saw him blow, he was probably only trying to help her wounded pride. While it did a little, she knew she needed _a lot_ of practice before she could get it right.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Obito threw a rock at her, and as soon as it hit Haruhi, there was a wave of smoke and a log in her place. Falling to the ground with a _thunk_. He smiled, "Wow, that's really cool!" he exclaimed, then looked around. "But, where'd you go?"

"I'm behind you." she answered, making him jump and whip around. Startled.

"Oh," He grinned. "can you show me how to do that?"

"Another time," She said, plopping down onto the ground. Obito mimicked her action.

He pouted. "Okay ..." They were both quiet, just looking at each other. "... Hey, what did Kagami-san need you for yesterday?" he questioned, suddenly curious about the affair.

Haruhi smiled. "I'm glad you asked." she said as she stood back up, dusting the dirt off the back of her black shorts. "Heard of the Great Fireball jutsu?"

"Are you _kidding_?!" he exclaimed as he shot up, not believing she even asked. "Of course I have, that's our clan's special technique!" He put his hands on his head. "Your dad is teaching it to you, isn't he?! You're so _lucky_, I wanna learn it too! I want somebody to show me, I _wish_ I had someone to show me!"

Haruhi laughed, Obito's reactions could be so over the top and funny sometimes. She shook her head. "Silly ... I can show you." Obito's eyes lit up, and he stepped closer.

"You mean it? Really?!"

Haruhi nodded. "Just as long as you promise to practice everyday." he nodded quickly.

"I will, I will! I _swear_!" he exclaimed. "Show me!"

She chuckled, then gave him the same explanation that Kagami gave to her. Showing him the hands seals a few times. When he attempted it, the only thing that came out was smoke. It made him pout and complain, but Haruhi made it evident that she wasn't good at it either.

"We're kind of bad at this." he said, after more smoke left his mouth.

"Yeah," she smiled. "but at least we're bad together." That made him smile too.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

The months flew by quickly, with her usual scedual of attending Academy and practicing with Obito. Yet, with all this time she's had, she's still gotten nowhere. She didn't know what she was doing wrong, was she missing something?

Obito was far off, practicing the technique, while Haruhi was standing alone. Thinking. Could the jutsu really be that hard? Kagami had expected for her to get the gist of it before now, and she had gotten nowhere.

There had to be a little more to this than her father had told her, more than just blowing out fire like she thought. _'Look beneath the_ _underneath'_, that was something Sakumo had said to her and Kakashi once. It was what helped her figure out the Water Walking technique.

With that in mind, she took her time. Instead of doing the jutsu over and over (it obviously wasn't getting her anywhere) and wasting her chakra, she considered what it was she was possibly doing wrong. Starting with one of her biggest problems.

She could admit, she usually rushed into things. When it came to learning something new she would almost always get ahead of herself, just trying do the technique instead of taking her time. So she had to take a second to look beneath the underneath of this jutsu, to really get down to understanding it.

Whenever she attempted to do the jutsu, she forced the fire out as soon as she felt it. So maybe this time she should do the opposite of that, and let it build some more.

"Haruhi-chan?" Obito tapped her shoulder, and she turned around. "How are you coming along?"

"I think I might be getting it ..." she trailed as she made the hand seals, Obito watching in curiosity. After making the Tiger seal, she felt the familiar sensation of warmth inside. She held it there, letting it build up some more, the warmth growing a little hotter. Then she forced it upwards, kneading her chakra as she did.

Her chest puffed out a little, the feeling of warmth shooting into her throat, then she blew out the breath. Blowing out fire, a small one; but much bigger than the tiny one she made all the other times. She gasped when the fire stopped, holding a hand over her mouth.

Did she ... did she really just do that?

Obito's mouth hung open, then he grinned. "You did it Haruhi-chan! How _did_ you do it?!"

"I ... uh ..." she sputtered, still a little surprised. Then it clicked, that was it. You had to let the fire build itself up as it rose from the body, that was the only way to effectively do the jutsu. She face-palmed, why was she so stupid? If she had actually taken the time to figure this out in the first place, she would've learned this technique ages ago.

Obito tilted his head. "What's with the face, Haruhi-chan? You just did it, aren't you happy?"

She nodded. "Yes ... but I'm stupid."

"What?" he questioned. "No you aren't, a stupid person wouldn't make the grades that you do. You're at the top of our class, and you're the smartest person I know! Don't say stuff like that!" he argued, not liking the name she called herself one bit.

Haruhi blushed, she's the smartest person he knows? Did he really mean that? She smiled. "Thank you, Obito-kun."

He smile too, a barely noticeable tint of pink on his cheeks. "No problem, it's true ... think you can show _me_ how to do that now?"

She nodded. "Of course."

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Haruhi and Kagami were in Training Ground Three once more, this time so Haruhi could show him how far she'd gotten with the technique. With her new knowledge of how to induce it, she practiced nonstop for almost three more months. She improved the more that she practiced, and eventually she was satisfied enough with her progress to show Kagami.

She let out a nervous breath, she really hoped he'd be impressed. "Whenever you're ready, Haruhi." he said, nodding to her. She nodded back, then began. Trying to calm her nerves.

_'Focus ...'_ she thought to herself, quickly forming the hand seals. The warmth started in her stomach as she kneaded her chakra, picturing the flame in her mind. She built it up even more as she slowly brought it up.

It churned in her chest, making it expand from it's volume. _'Fire style ...'_ she trailed in her head, the fire finally reaching her throat. _'Great Fireball technique!'_ she thought, then blew out one of the biggest fires Kagami's ever seen. She blew until she had no more breath to release, then looked at her father when she stopped. A hopeful look on her face.

He stared at her wide eyed, his mouth open a little. He was at a loss for words, "Haruhi ..." he finally said, squatting down to her height. For a second, he said nothing. The proudness ... the intense feeling of it made him stumped for words.

He quickly threw his arms around her, bringing her into a tight hug. Her head rested in the crook of his neck, while he laid his own head on top of hers. "Haruhi ... I'm so proud of you, so _proud_." he said, hugging her a bit tighter.

Haruhi smiled, tearing up a little. He's never spoken to her like that, she's never even seen him this way. She wanted to see this side of him more often, she wanted to always be the reason why he felt this way.

"You did it." he said, pulling away but leaving his hands on her shoulders. He had a big smile on his face, one she's never seen from him. "You really are worthy of the Uchiha name, good job. You're coming a long way Haruhi."

She wiped her eyes, nodding her head. "Because I have you as a teacher, and a dad."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "No." he said, resting a hand on her head. Ruffling her hair a little, "It's because you're such a good student. Such a perfect student"

Her smile widened.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

"World ... destruction ..." Those were now the only words she could understand from those mutters, while that all too familiar hypnotic Sharingan made her head spin.

She shot up in her bed in a cold sweat, breathing heavily as her heart beat quickly. She looked around her room, rubbing her temples. She had a bit of a headache, her head still felt as if it were spinning around. Either from the dream, or her moving so suddenly and so quickly.

These were the nights that she hated the greatest, with such a passion. That dream, for whatever reason it began, haunted her. It left her to lay awake during the stillness of the night. With it's image, that damned doujutsu, plaguing her mind.

It made her not even want to sleep sometimes, but she couldn't just lay awake the rest of her life. She needed sleep, but it seemed as though this dreaded nightmare wished to deprive her of it.

She kicked her sheets off and brought her knees to her chest, closing her eyes; only for them to snap back open. She even saw it with her eyes closed, how unfortunate.

Looks like she wouldn't be sleeping for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Well, I enjoyed writing this one out. I really hoped you liked reading it, there's quite a few different feelings mixed in here.

**Question: **What is your overall view on villains (not in real life, of course), how do you feel about them and their views? Any specific antagonist in mind?

Don't you ghost read!


	6. Chapter six: Red and Yellow

**Author's Note: **Hope I'm not being too slow for you guys, but the slow pacing is important towards relationship development and Haruhi's own development. Don't know why, but sometimes I feel like it annoys you, maybe it's just in my head or something...

**Answer: **How I feel towards a villain and their views, all depends on the villain and _why _they have those views in the first place. Some are batshit insane, others can't accept the hardships of the world or the reality that it sucks, and then there are the ones who were just unfortunate victims of circumstance. Perfect examples of each of these are the Joker, Madara, and Gaara (in that order, even though Gaara isn't like that anymore). Some are just plain crazy, some need to deal with the fact that life is life (even though it can be hard), others just couldn't help what they became.

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

**Edited: September 5, 2014**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

_Red and Yellow_

* * *

"Haruhi-chan," Rin said, tilting her head. "are you alright? You look kinda pale today ..." Haruhi looked up from the bouquet she was making, turning to Rin.

She then forced a smile, nodding her head. "Yeah, I'm okay." She let out a short yawn. "I'm just a little tired is all." She rubbed one of her eyes, then looked around for more flowers.

"Oh," Rin said, doing the same as her friend. "did you go to sleep late or something?"

Haruhi shook her head, picking a few Daisies and adding them to her assortment. They were in their usual after school Kunoichi class today, their assignment was to make a bouquet.

Their sensei was going to show them how to effectively conceal items inside of them, something about making a bouquet an even better present than just a bunch of flowers. But Haruhi was smarter than that, they were learning how to hide weapons and messages. In something as unsuspecting as a bouquet.

Haruhi sighed. "No ... I just have ... _trouble_ going to sleep sometimes." It was much more than a case of insomnia, much more than she'd let anyone know. Unless they could help, there was no need to tell.

"Yeah?" Rin turned to her. "Sometimes when I can't sleep, my Grandma gives me warm milk. Then I'm out like a light!" She giggled, and Haruhi only nodded. Choosing to remain silent. "Maybe you should try it."

The Uchiha girl shrugged, it wasn't a bad idea. It was something worth trying. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind."

They were both silent, until Rin spoke again. "What kind of flowers do you have?"

Haruhi looked down at them. "Um ... just some Daffodils and stuff ... I think I might have picked a few weeds." she said, pulling one out and throwing it away.

Rin laughed. "They kind of look like flowers." she said, as a way of making excuse. She looked down at her own flower bundle, picking through them. "I've got Daisies, Daffodils, Pansies ..." Eventually Haruhi stopped listening, her mind going someplace else.

Her nightmares, the Sharingan was always involved for some reason. She didn't start having that damned dream until after her and her mother conversed about Madara Uchiha, they began that very same night.

Those words, 'world and destruction', Madara believed the world to be damned and doomed if it kept on the path it was going. He was an Uchiha, so did that explain the Sharingan?

She shook her head, it was all so confusing. Did it have something to do with that man?

"Haruhi-chan!" Rin exclaimed, breaking her from her little zoned out world. She looked at Rin. "Did you hear what I said?"

She thought about it, then opposed the idea of lying. There'd be no point, she shook her head. "No, sorry, what was it?"

The brown haired girl sighed. "I said, there are some flowers that can be used in certain medicines. The ones that have healing purposes, I learned it in this book I read."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow. "You read books about flowers?" Rin didn't strike her as the type to really, well, care about flowers. It seemed more like something a Yamanaka would be into.

Rin shook her head. "No, don't be silly. I read it in a medical book." She grinned. "I wanna be a medical ninja." Now that sounded more like canon Rin.

"What brought that about?"

"Well ..." she said, twisting the stems of her flowers a little. "My Grandma told be my Mother used to be a medic-nin, a really good one. I don't really know anything about her outside what my Grandma's told me, but I wanna be like her."

Rin's only remaining family was her Grandmother, Michi Nohara. Her father died on a mission prior to her birth, and her mother met the same unfortunate fate just before she turned two. In Haruhi's mind, that was very unfair. While that was just life, it just wasn't fair. To have to lose your parents so young.

Haruhi smiled. "Setting goals for yourself already? What else did you learn?"

"This really cool jutsu called Mystical Palm!" she excitedly said. "It's one of the most important jutsu that a medic has to know. I can let you borrow the book sometime, if you'd like."

Haruhi nodded, it wouldn't hurt. It would definitely come in handy in the future. "Alright! Are you reading it still?"

"No, not anymore. I finished it a few days ago." Rin answered.

"Think I can borrow it now?"

Rin nodded. "Sure, I'll give it to you once class is over." She said, then they continued to collect flowers until their sense called the small class back together. To resume the "innocent" lesson.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Haruhi walked into the Uchiha compound, other clansmen passing by greeting her with a 'hello'. Some congratulation her on learning the family technique and earning her place within the clan. She in turn happily greeted everyone back, continuing on her way to her Aunt and Uncle's home.

She skipped up to the door once she reached her desired destination, and gave a simple knock to the door. One that was hopefully audible.

She stood there for a minute, rocking back and forth on her heels as she clothed the straps of her backpack, then the door finally opened and she was greeted by Mikoto.

The older Uchiha woman beamed. "Haruhi!" she said, leaning down and bringing her nice into a tight, loving hug. "What a surprise, it's been quite a while since I've seen you." She pulled away, leaving her hands on Haruhi's small shoulders. "You look a little sick sweetheart, are you feeling alright?" she questioned, a motherly concern in her voice.

Haruhi nodded. "Uh-huh, I just had a long day. That's all." she replied, and Mikoto seemed convinced by it.

She looked around. "Where's your Mother? Did you come here alone?"

The little girl nodded. "Yeah, dad got sent on a mission last night. And Mom's at home still, at least I think." She shrugged. "I don't know."

Mikoto stood back up and rested her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow. "But she does know you're here, right?"

She quickly nodded. "Yeah yeah, I asked this morning. Before I left for school, Auntie!"

Mikoto smiled again. "Alright then, come on inside." she said, stepping aside to let her in. Once she was, she closed the door behind her.

"Is Uncle Fugaku here?" she curiously questioned, looking up at her Aunt.

Said woman shook her head in the negative. "No, I'm afraid not. He was sent out last night as well, along with Kagami I believe." she replied as they both walked towards the front room.

Once there, Haruhi paused in her walking when she saw a woman seated on the couch; holding up cup of steaming tea. Her familiar burning red hair made Haruhi recognize her in an instant.

"I didn't know you had a guest," Haruhi said to Mikoto. "sorry, Auntie ..." Mikoto merely waved it off.

"Oh don't be silly Haruhi-chan, I'm sure she doesn't mind." She turned to the red haired woman. "Do you Kushina-chan?"

Kushina smiled big, shaking her head. "Of course not, besides, I love kids anyway. Ya know?" She looked down at Haruhi, giving her a little wave. "Hello there Haruhi-san, I'm Uzumaki Kushina. I'm a close friend of your Aunt."

Haruhi nodded, bowing. "It's very nice to meet you, Kushina-san ..."

Kushina turned to Mikoto. "She's so polite, I never imagined your niece was this adorable!"

Haruhi's eyes widened, _'Oh boy ...' _a blush creeped up into her cheeks, Kushina taking quick notice.

"Oh how cute, she's blushing!" She clasped her hands together, after sitting her tea until the table. "You're just a bashful little girl aren't you? How precious!" That only made her blush deepen, Kushina must've _really_ loved children. Unsurprising.

Mikoto giggled, resting a hand on Kushina's shoulder. Making her look up at her. "Alright Kushina-chan, that's enough. She gets flushed easy when you say things like that."

Kushina chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh, I'm sorry. You know how I am, I get all excited then I just don't know what I'm saying anymore. Ya know?" She laughed, then looked back at Haruhi. "I heard from Mikoto-chan that you learned the Fireball technique."

Haruhi's blush receded a little as she nodded. "Yeah, I did." She turned around, taking off her bag to show Kushina the Uchiha emblem that was on the back of her shirt.

"That's really great, and you're so young too!" Kushina complimented. "You'll make a really good ninja for sure, just like the boy that my boyfriend is teaching. Kakashi I think his name was ..." she trailed, the gasped a little. "Oh, that reminds me! I wanted to go down to the training field while they were still there!" She chugged down the rest of her drink and stood up. "It was nice chatting with you Miko-chan." She leaned down and patted Haruhi's head. "Nice meeting you as well, Haruhi-san."

After telling the both of them goodbye, she began to leave. But then Haruhi spoke, "Wait!" Kushina stopped, turning around. "Can I come too? Kakashi-kun is my friend, I haven't seen him in a while." She jogged up to her, giving her puppy eyes. "You don't mind do you?"

"Umm ..." She looked at Mikoto, who looked at Haruhi.

"You didn't want to stay a while? I would've enjoyed the company." she admitted, and that made Haruhi feel torn. But then again, she could see Mikoto anytime she had the chance. She couldn't do that with Kakashi.

"I can come back another day, right Auntie? Kakashi-kun's my best friend, I really wanna see him." Mikoto looked from her to her red haired friend, smiling.

"I'll tell Miwako where she's going." Kushina smiled down at Haruhi. "And I'll hold you to that little one, I'd like to see you more often too."

"Then I guess that means you're tagging along!" she said, making Haruhi smile.

She couldn't hold in her excitement. "Yay!" she exclaimed, making the two older women laugh while she hurried to the door. Kushina and Mikoto following behind.

Haruhi opened the door herself and went outside, Kushina following after giving Mikoto one more goodbye and a hug. "Is it okay if we stop for somebody else, Kushina-san?" she asked as they started walking.

"Another friend of yours?" Haruhi nodded, making Kushina smile. "Fine by me then, the more the merrier!" With that, they tread to Obito's home. Small talking on the way.

"He said he immediately picked up on my hair trail, because he always really liked my hair." she said as they neared Obito's house, unconsciously touching it. "No one ever complimented me on it before, he wasn't the unreliable idiot I thought he was. He was so brave, he saved me, from then on I knew he was the one for me ..." she trailed, giggling and blushing.

Haruhi smile, that was a very sweet story. "I like your hair too, Kushina-san!" she complimented as they stopped in front of Obito's home. "It's really pretty."

Kushina blinked, caught a little off guard, then beamed. "Well then, I guess that's two people who've ever complimented me on my hair." she said, then knocked on the door. Not very long afterwards, the little Uchiha boy answered.

He smiled big when he saw his friend. "Hi Haruhi-chan!" Then he finally noticed the woman standing beside her, he looked up at her curiously while she waved down at him. "Whose this lady?"

Haruhi directed a hand at her. "This is Uzumaki Kushina, a friend of my Auntie's."

Obito blinked, opening the door wider. "Oh, a friend of Mikoto-san's?" He looked back up at Kushina. "Nice to meet you lady—"

"I just told you her name." Haruhi cut off, making Obito chuckle sheepishly.

"Right, haha." he said, "Nice to meet you, Kushina-san. My name's Uchiha Obito, and I'm gonna be the next Hokage!"

Kushina chuckled hearing this, remembering how she said something similar when she was young. "Well, it's nice to meet you 'future Hokage'." she said. "Me and Haruhi-san were going to go visit your friend Kakashi. We were wondering if you wanted to join us."

Obito's face had scrunched into a sour look, as soon as the masked boy's name left her mouth. "That jerk isn't my friend ..." he trailed, and Kushina tilted her head. Glancing down at Haruhi, she assumed ...

Haruhi crossed her arms, giving Obito a smile. "I wanted you to go." She clasped her hands together. "Will you at least do it for me then, Obi-kun?"

He blushed when she called him that, then looked down at the ground. "Well, for _you _... then sure, of course Haruhi-chan. I guess ..."

Haruhi smiled wider, giving him a hug, and Kushina tried to surpress a giggle.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

"Well, isn't this a surprise." Minato said, as he watched the trio approach. "Hello Kushina." he said, opening his arms as she ran to him. Hugging her.

"Hey Minato!" she greeted back, gleefully.

Kakashi jogged up to Haruhi and Obito. "What's he doing here?" he asked, not even bothering to say hello first.

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "It's nice to see you again too, Kakashi-kun."

"Hi, Haruhi-chan." he said, correcting his earlier error. "Why's he here?"

"Who cares?" Obit scoffed, speaking before Haruhi got the chance to. "I only came here cause Haruhi-chan asked me to." He stuck out his tongue, blowing a raspberry at him. "So there!"

"Can you _be_ anymore childish?" he questioned. "I'm guessing you can be, you idiot."

Haruhi sighed, shaking her head. They were _both_ acting like children, but then again that's precisely what they were. Obito's eye twitched. "_You're_ the idiot!"

Kakashi snorted, crossing his arms. "Which one of us is still in the Academy?" That made Obito remain quiet, fuming. "Yeah, I thought so."

"Kakashi-kun ..." Haruhi trailed off in a sigh.

"I'm guessing the two of you aren't exactly friends then, Kakashi?" Minato said, as Kushina and he stepped up to them. Kakashi shook his head while Obito scoffed, looking away. The sight made Minato chuckle, then he turned to Kushina. "Who are these children?"

"This is Uchiha Haruhi," she said, directing a hand at the dark haired girl. "and Obito." She repeated the same gesture to him.

Minato looked at the Uchiha girl. "So you're Haruhi." She tilted her head, he knew of her already? "The girl that Kakashi here told me about." he said, ruffling the masked boy's silver hair.

"You told him about me?" she questioned, and Kakashi crossed his arms.

"_Not_ openly!" he said, making his point very clear. "You just so happened to come up in conversation now and then, that's all."

Haruhi giggled. "Whatever you say, Kakashi-kun." she teased, moving to pinch his cheek. But he swatted her hand away, muttering that she was embarrassing. "So, you're Namikaze Minato then?" she asked the blonde, even though she was aware.

"The very same, guess that means Kakashi's already told you about me." he answered. "It's nice to meet you both, I always wondered what Kakashi's friends were like."

"We aren't friends!" Obito and Kakashi both exclaimed, then glanced at each other. Looking away with a huff.

"Umm ... alright, I'm sorry I said so." Minato stated, causing Kushina to laugh.

"It's nice to meet you too, Minato-san." Haruhi said, then she elbowed Obito. He sputtered out the same thing she said, in response. She then turned to Kakashi. "I really wanted to show you something I learned, you're gonna be so jealous!" Obito snickered.

"I doubt that." Kakashi voiced, then shrugged. "You can go ahead and show me anyway, I'm curious. But I doubt it's anything I haven't learned already."

"You'd be wrong ..." Obito muttered, as Haruhi turned away from everyone. She began to make the hand seals for the Fireball technique, and Minato's eyes widened. As he recognized those seals.

"No way ..." he trailed, Haruhi letting out a giant breath of fire. Leaving Kakashi standing there wide eyed once she was finished. Kushina looked impressed, and Obito clapped. Making Haruhi smile sheepishly, blushing.

He blinked. "Your ... Kagami-san taught you that?!" he asked, and Haruhi smirked. Slipping her bag off of her back to show him the Uchiha crest.

"He sure did, I'm really part of the clan now!" She put her backpack back on, then turned back around to face him. "Don't you think that's cool?" She stepped closer and nudged him. "Are you jealous?"

"Of course not." He was lying, he wanted to learn a nature release jutsu too. He'd have to ask his father about that. "But it is cool." He looked at Obito, "Don't tell me you know how to do that too."

Obito's cheeks turned a little pink, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well ... I'm, uh, still learning so ..."

"So I guess that's a no then?" Kakashi questioned. "Figures."

"I said I'm learning!" he exclaimed. "Plus, I've got Haruhi-chan to show me!"

"Whatever," Kakashi turned to his female companion. "I'm not totally surprised that you can do that. You're always working your butt off on something." he said, and she quickly agreed.

"That's not all I'm gonna be working my butt off on." she said as she removed her bag and unzipped it, pulling out a book. Holding it up so it was at eye level with Kakashi.

"Introductory to Medical Ninjutsu." he read out loud, raising an eyebrow. "What made you wanna learn that? Where did you even get this book from?"

"Rin-chan let me borrow it, I think it would be good for me to learn at least the basics." she explained as Kakashi took the book, flipping through it.

"Rin huh? That girl who use to stare at me all the time?"

She nodded. "Yeah, her." Rin's crush on Kakashi had been just as obvious as any other girl's. "What were you guys doing out here anyway?"

"Target practice and weapons training," Minato said, pointing at a target post that was ten feet away. Some other ninja tools laid on the ground near it, "Kakashi's pretty good at it. Did you kids begin using ninja tools yet?"

Haruhi and Obito glanced at each other, shaking their heads. "Our sensei said we wouldn't start that for another month, at least." Obito answered, and Minato hummed.

"Well ... there's no harm in getting some practice before hand right? While you're here anyway I mean." The two Uchiha children beamed.

"Are you kidding? Heck yeah!" Obito exclaimed, sprinting straight for the targets. Kakashi turned to Haruhi.

"At least I can hit targets better than you." If his mask weren't in the way, he'd have been sticking his tongue out at her right about now.

"You won't be able to say that once I do it better than you." she smugly said, crossing her arms.

"Better? Than _me_?" He pointed at himself. "What makes you say that?"

"Because I'm an Uchiha." she replied, causing Minato and Kushina to chuckle and Kakashi to roll his eyes.

"You can't say that anymore," He pointed behind him. At Obito, who was trying to hit the targets with shuriken he picked up from the ground. "not after meeting that."

She puffed out her cheeks. "Please, you haven't seen Obito-kun's true colors yet. He's right on his way to developing into one of the finest shinobi our generation has to offer." she said.

"Yeah, that'll happen." he sarcastically replied, it was then that she noticed Minato and Kushina's staring.

She blinked. "W-What?" she asked, their gazes making her feel weird.

"Nothing really, I guess." Minato chuckled. "It's just, what you said made you sound so much older than you really are." Haruhi stiffened.

Kushina giggled. "Mikoto-san wasn't joking when she said you were very smart for your age." She swatted Minato's chest. "I'm surprised she didn't graduate with Kakashi, then you could teach her too."

That would be a bad idea on her part, a pretty risky one too. "I already have a teacher, my dad." Haruhi piped.

The red haired woman tapped her chin. "Oh that's right, Kagami-san does teach you doesn't he?" she rhetorically questioned, then shrugged. "But it would be nice having Minato-kun as a sensei, right?"

_'No, he'd learn too damn much.'_ "I guess so." She shrugged.

"Well then, if you're anything like Kakashi, I think you'd be a wonderful student." He smiled, and she smiled back. Then ran towards the target area.

"Hey!" Kakashi said, running after her. "I have to show you how to throw it first!"

"No you don't!"

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Haruhi slowly twirled a Kunai in hand as she read from her borrowed medical book, while her and Kagami were seated in the study. "... How did your meeting with Minato and Kushina go while I was gone?" he asked, for the first time since they've been in there.

It was possible that he didn't want to disturb her reading, she stopped spining the kunai and looked up at him. She smiled, "It was great, Minato-san showed me how to throw kunai and shuriken."

Kagami smirked. "That's good, you should already be a little good once you start that lesson at the Academy." She nodded.

"I sure will be." She turned a page as she began to read some more. "Were you gonna teach me anything else dad?" she questioned, curious.

"Well, I was going to have you work on your speed. You're a little on the slow side." he commented. "But you seem like you're more bust with learning medical jutsu, sooo ..." he trailed, and Haruhi quickly closed her book.

"No I'm not!" she said. "I can learn this stuff anytime, teach me Dad!"

He chuckled. "I was only teasing Haruhi," He ruffled her hair. "I actually have something I want you to do first, however."

"What is it?"

He pointed behind her, at the same chest that she dug in a year ago. Where she found the picture of Madara and Kagami. "I want you to look in there for some small, rectangular pieces of paper."

"What are those?" she asked, pretending not to know.

"They're chakra papers, when you pulse your chakra through them it shows what nature you are by how it reacts." he explained.

"But, I thought my nature was fire."

He nodded. "It is, but it's possible for someone to be dual natured. Though partially rare."

"Can someone have more than two, dad?" Now that she actually was curious about. Because, if memory served right, Kakashi was suppose to have three or four. She held back a pout, he upstaged her in that regard. There was no way she had more than two.

"It's possible, but even rarer." he answered as she stood from her seated position on the ground. She walked over to the chest and flipped up the latch, opening the top. The chakra slips were in plain sight, and so was the picture of Kagami and Madara. It slipped her mind that it was still in there.

She stared at it, at Madara's face mostly, then pulled it out. Along with the slip of paper, then stepped back over to Kagami. "Dad," she started, holding up the picture so he could see. "is this you? Whose this man?"

Kagami gaped, surprised that she found such a thing in that box. Then sighed, dragging a hand down his face. He had forgotten that was in there, it's been a while since he had to open it. He gently took the picture from his daughter's grasp and stared at it, debating with himself on whether or not he should explain it to her.

"... Yes, this is me. I was about your age." he finally answered, then looked up at her. "The man in the picture is Uchiha Madara ... he was my old teacher." Haruhi gasped a little, she wasn't expecting to hear something like that. "If memory serves right, this was taken the day I mastered the Fireball technique."

Haruhi nodded. "Did Madara-san teach it to you?"

He nodded. "Yes, along with a multitude of things. A lot of the same things I've taught you so far. In a way, I was like his apprentice." He chuckled. "I remember a time when he attempted to teach me how to use his prized weapon, the War Fan. I could never quite get it though."

"... What was he like?" Haruhi at this point was very curious, Madara was such an intriguing person to her.

"Well, as a mentor his teachings were strict." Kagami admitted. "He was blunt and to the point, he made my mess ups and weaknesses crystal clear so I would work on them. I think he may have rubbed off on me a little in that regard ..." he trailed.

To be exclusively taught by the clan head was such a privilege, especially since it was someone like him. Ability wise, Kagami was the ninja he was today because of Madara. He was sadden when he learned of his late mentor's defection from Konoha, even more once knowledge of his death was known.

He glanced up at Haruhi. "You remind me of myself when I was your age." He smiled. "So prepared to learn anything that was thrown at me, you must've inherited that from me." He looked at the picture on more time before handing it back to Haruhi. "We can talk about this another time, right now we have other things to work on. Put that away."

Haruhi took the photo back, walking over to the chest to put it away. She looked at it again, at Madara's face, the words and murmurs from her dream flowing through her mind. _'World ... destruction ...' _She shook her head, tossing the photograph back into the box and closing it quickly. Walking back over to Kagami, chakra slip in hand.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Eh... not my best chapter, I'm sorry guys. Hope you liked this update anyway.

**Question: **In your opinion, who is the most underrated character in the show?

I'd like it if you didn't ghost read, tell me what you thought.


	7. Chapter seven: Common Enemy

**Author's Note: **I really enjoy writing this, I can't wait until I get to the good parts. I have this entire story planned from beginning to end (for once), so I'm dying to get into it! But I have to take my time here...

**Answer: **Tenten, oh Tenten you poor little baby you... so underrated it hurts. The girl which gets little to no screen time, except in Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals. Even Kishi said his only purpose for making her was so Team Gai would have their needed female member. It isn't just her either, basically every female character is. Sakura will shine for a second then be pushed back, pretty annoying. But mostly Tenten -le startscryingcausetenten'ssoirrelevant-

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

**Edited: September 5, 2014**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

_Common Enemy_

* * *

Yet another year, going by as if it were nothing but the wind. Not a lot was learned by Haruhi, as usual, aside from when the class began to learn of weapons. Going to the target section of the Academy to practice their aim, Haruhi and Obito alike had been quite ahead of everyone else in that department. That day they met Minato in the training grounds wasn't the last time they'd seen him, but the first of many encounters.

When he'd introduced to them the art of throwing kunai and shuriken, they both regularly practiced in Minato's presence. While the blonde haired man in turn worked with Kakashi.

Obito and Haruhi both had quite some attention on them during class, especially Obito. The other kids were use to Haruhi being so ahead, that was absolutely nothing new. It was expected. But to see that Obito, the dead last of their grade, was able to hit the targets when they themselves could not ... well, it was quite the shock.

Obito was impressed with himself, even more so when he knew of the other children's feelings. It would be an understatement to say it inflated his ego, he took to gloating any and every chance that he got. Flaunting the Hokage title around, stating how it was just proof that they'd all been wrong.

Haruhi on the other hand was not one for rubbing things in people's faces, she often reprimanded Obito for doing it himself. He would apologize for it everytime, but then do it some more. Eventually she just stopped caring, for she had more important things to worry about. Like her training.

When Kagami had her emit her chakra into that slip of paper one half caught fire and immediately turned to ashes while the other half crumbled away to pieces. She was in fact dual natured, her second was Earth.

After being introduced to this new knowledge, Kagami had her begin an exercise that was to help her in controlling her earth style chakra. She had to break apart a rock, using only chakra.

She was, well, confused when he informed her of this. Surely something as simple as chakra couldn't break a rock, but it in fact had to her surprise. But, according to her Father, she'd done it all wrong.

The first time she was handed the stone and explained how to perform the little trick, she'd forced far too much chakra into the stone. Which made it implode from all the build up, shocking her and making her scream when the rock bits flew everywhere. Since she was the one who made that mess, Kagami made her clean it all up.

She didn't understand how it wasn't right, as she'd broken the rock like he'd asked of her. But Kagami informed her that she only broke it because she forced so much chakra in. It was like blowing up a balloon, if you put in too much air it will pop. You have to understand when enough is enough. He wanted her to break it apart, not blow it to pieces.

She still would do too much, clearly she hadn't understood, but Kagami had no clear way of explaining it to her. Not so she would understand, it was complicated. So if she were to get it, she had to get it on her own. Technically speaking, her Father still lended a hand whenever he could.

For a week the rock would explode, it happened so often that they eventually moved the practice outside. From there she tried to not put so much into it, instead cutting her chakra input in half. However, this would only put only a few cracks into the stone. Unfortunately, at that point she'd been using too little.

As usual, she wasted a month with trying to force it instead of just looking beneath the trick to figure it out. She eventually came to learn that, similar to the Great Fireball technique, the chakra input and molding was gradual. You flowed it in little by little, letting it slowly pan out as it broke down the matter of the stone. Breaking it apart from the inside, the rest of the stone eventually falling apart once it reached the outside.

Took her two months to get it, shame on her part, but she did it. Afterwards, Kagami was ready with a Ninjutsu scroll, one that Sakumo (on request to Kagami) helped him to get. The scroll that explained the earth jutsu "Earth Spike". A ninjutsu technique that her father unfortunately could not help her with, as he wasn't earth natured. Only fire.

But she practiced that as much as she could, studying from the scroll as often as possible. She was so caught up in it that she didn't study from the medic book, that Rin eventually allowed her to keep, like she used to. She knew First Aid, and was alright enough at Mystical Palm, that was all that was truly needed for the time being.

"Hrk!" Obito grunted out, when his back smacked onto the safety mat for the second time.

"Victory goes to Yuuhi Kurenai." Edo said, nodding at the red eyed girl. She stepped up to Obito and held out a hand, to help him up. He pouted, but accepted her gesture of kindness all the same.

She held out her first two fingers, and he hooked his around hers. "I thank you very much for the spar." was what she said.

"I can't believe I lost to a girl." he muttered, making some of the other students laugh.

"Alright alright, enough of that!" Edo said, making them stop. A few snickers slipping out here and there. "The two students up next for sparring are Uchiha Haruhi, and Hyuuga Hinako." Haruhi blinked, taking this time to glance at Hinako. The Hyuuga girl did the same, staring at Haruhi with blank, pupiless eyes.

Obito nudged her when he stopped next to her. "Good luck." He patted her back. "Who am I kidding, you don't need it."

Haruhi nodded and stepped up, at the same time as Hinako did. Once on the mat, they both turned to face one another at the same time. Haruhi's expression contained a look of pure curiosity, while Hinako's gave off the impression that she didn't care.

Hinako was a lower branch Hyuuga, who was fifth in the class. She worked hard and trained hard, But it seemed she was stuck in that spot, she wouldn't be moving anywhere. Not with people like Haruhi and Kurenai (who was second) in the same class with her.

On the outside she appeared to not really care, but on the inside she hated it. She worked hard to be the best, but these girls were at the top no problem. Just because they were 'geniuses', how idiotic.

Haruhi could never read her face as it lacked emotion, she always wondered what went on in that head of hers. "The seal." Edo stated, and they both made the seal of confrontation with one hand. As they were suppose to.

"I would like to engage you in combat." They both said simultaneously, shifting their positions. Haruhi making a firm stance, while Hinako slipped into the standard gentle fist stance.

"... Begin." was all that their sensei said, before they both ran at each other.

Hinako skid to a halt in front of Haruhi, thrusting out her hand; aiming square for her chest. Though Haruhi was able to bend back from the attack, what the hell was she doing? Even Haruhi understood that if you hit someone in the wrong place with that technique you could kill them, this was only a spar. Not a fight to the death, this girl needed to watch what she was doing.

At least she wasn't using Byakugan, Edo had already informed everyone that Ninjutsu sparring would not be done until their next year.

Hinako threw out her hand again, Haruhi this time smacking it away and aiming a punch for the Hyuuga's face. Only for Hinako to protectively hold up her arms in an X formation, blocking the blow.

While Hinako was distracted, Haruhi took this time to quickly sweep her leg under the Hyuuga girl. Knocking her feet out from under her and causing her to fall onto her butt. "First round is Haruhi's." Edo said, and Hinako's mouth fell open.

What ... what just happened? To Haruhi's, and some other student's, surprise, a look of anger flashed across her face as she sprang back up. Running at Haruhi with a yell.

Her blows were coming out quicker this time, Haruhi had a hard time keeping up but she managed. When her and Kakashi use to spar, Sakumo advised her to keep her undivided attention on her opponent and them only. Block out any noise or distraction, and that was exactly what she did.

In her mind, Hinako and her were the only one's in the room.

Haruhi caught her wrist, pulling her forward then kicking her back, hoping Hinako would fall again. But she quickly caught her balance after stumbling a little, running up to Haruhi again.

Hinako didn't have much strength, her attacks held little power behind them. Haruhi wasn't very quick, even with her speed training, but she was about as strong as someone her age and size could be. Which wasn't a lot, but it was for a seven year old.

Hinako's feet shifted around quickly, dealing out hit after hit. It took every bit of concentration Haruhi had to keep up, waiting for a moment to counter attack.

"Ah!" Haruhi let out, when she was hit in the arm. Hinako's surge of chakra made a slight pain shoot through it, but she was otherwise okay. Letting out a breath, Haruhi began to throw punches and kicks. Ones that Hinako effectively dodged out of the way of.

Until Haruhi finally got her with a roundhouse kick, knocking Hinako off to the side and down onto the mat. "That's two out of three, victory goes to Uchiha Haruhi." Edo said, as Hinako sat up. Then she just stayed there, sitting on her butt and glaring at her lap. "Hinako." their sensei said, trying to get her attention, and she looked up. He said nothing else, talking to her by name was his way of telling her to get up.

Haruhi tilted her head, then sighed, holding out a hand to help her up. Hinako merely scrunched up her nose in disgust, shooting Haruhi a glare before getting up on her own. Haruhi pulled her hand back in confusion. _'What the hell is her problem?' _she thought, she was just trying to be courteous.

She shook her head, sticking out her index and middle fingers. "I thank you for the spar." Haruhi said, but Hinako only glanced at her outstretched hand before looking up at her with narrowed eyes.

"Hinako, complete the seal of reconciliation." Edo told her, and Hinako scoffed.

"I will do no such thing!" she exclaimed, taking Edo and some others by surprise.

"Why not?" Haruhi asked. "It's not like there are any hard feel—"

"I have no interest in 'reconciling' with some ..." she trailed, then clenched her fists. "Some _stupid_ Uchiha!" Haruhi gasped.

"Hey!" Obito exclaimed, taking offence to that remark. But she ignored him.

She was initially shocked, but then she put her arm down. She narrowed her eyes, where exactly had that come from? Surely she wasn't entertaining that stereotypical "rivalry" between the Uchiha and Hyuuga. She couldn't have been, it would be highly absurd of her.

But if that was the game she was playing, then Haruhi could play it as well. She snorted. "My mistake, I shouldn't have expected you to. I forgot that you lower branch Hyuuga are quite classless." she nonchalantly remarked.

Hinako looked shocked at her comeback, but then glared daggers at her. Clenching her teeth and fists, Hinako lunged at her. Only to be held back by Edo, Haruhi merely crossed her arms with a smirk.

"Alright, that's enough! I'm not having that." He looked at the Uchiha girl. "Haruhi, apologize." He expected more from her, she was far too smart to stoop to such a level.

Her mouth fell open, that little witch called her a stupid Uchiha ... yet he was telling _Haruhi_ to apologize?! Never. "Forget it!" she exclaimed, turning her back to him.

Edo sighed, still holding back Hinako. Who still hadn't stopped trying to attack Haruhi.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

"Stupid Uchiha, huh?" Kakashi said. "That's one heck of a story, sounds to me like you've got yourself a rival." They were all at the training grounds again, today without Minato. Each of them practicing up on some jutsu.

Haruhi scoffed at that. "Please, that little weakling could never be my rival. Not even if she got to my level, you're the only one skilled enough to be considered my rival Kakashi-kun."

"Hey," Obito whined. "what about me?"

"You can't be my rival Obito-kun, you're too sweet." she said, making him blush and smile.

Kakashi grimaced. _'Seriously? ...'_

"She's bratty," Haruhi continued. "I have never said a word to her, and now she suddenly hates me. All cause I beat her in a dumb spar? How stupid is that?!" she exclaimed, then stomped and kicked at the ground. "Just thinking about it makes me mad, that little—"

Possible chance she was overreacting, but she couldn't help it. The adult part of her helped her to stay calm and levelheaded, but right now the anger was coming from her child side. It was the adult part of her mind, that kept her from throwing a tantrum. If anything, the "stupid Uchiha" thing was what really got her.

"I'm sure it's no big deal." Kakashi attempted to reassure. "Just don't worry about it, she probably doesn't hate you. She was just being a sore loser I bet, I'm positive Obito's done the same thing." Obito shot him a glare.

Haruhi shrugged. "Yeah, I guess, it's just that ..." She sighed, puffing out her cheeks. "Uchiha aren't stupid!"

"You're right, they aren't." Kakashi nodded.

"Yeah, I bet she's just jealous! She'll never be as great as us!" Obito exclaimed.

"I think you mean just Haruhi." Kakashi corrected.

"Teme ..." Obito muttered, sticking his tongue out at the masked silver haired boy. He looked at Haruhi. "How are you coming along with that jutsu, Earth Spike?"

"Even better than I was doing before." She made the Ram seal and laid her hands on the ground, this Ninjutsu held the same logic as the stone exercise. You flow your chakra into the ground, spreading it depending on how much earth you wish to use, and twist the matter of the ground. Molding it and shaping it to your choosing, in this case spikes.

Simple dirt or mud could be turned to stone due to the chakra input, and that was exactly what protruded from the ground after Haruhi performed the technique. She couldn't make large ones, but they were twice the size she was.

Kakashi nodded, while Obito's mouth hung open. "They're bigger than before, did you practice the Transformation technique I taught you last week?"

Haruhi made the ground shift back to normal, then she stood up. Dusting the dirt from her hands. "No, not yet. I was trying to improve on my Earth Release a little."

"Well, you need to practice, if you plan on graduating this year." Kakashi informed her. "You know Body Replacement, but you still need to learn Transformation and the Clone technique."

She nodded, understanding that already. To graduate early, you had to know everything that was taught at the Academy. And demonstrate it during the Genin exam. "Yeah, I know." She looked at Obito. "Did you learn it yet, Obito-kun?"

He beamed. "I sure did!" He made a hand seal and a wave of smoke shot up from his feet, once it cleared he was an exact replica of Kakashi.

Well, almost exact.

There was something bulging out of his mask.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with your face?"

Obito chuckled and pulled his mask down, lips so huge they covered most of his face. Kakashi's eyes widened, and Haruhi had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. "Nothing's wrong with my face, I bet this is what you look like under here."

Haruhi shook her head, she's seen Kakashi's face. He looked absolutely nothing like that. "Want a kiss, Haruhi-chan?" he asked, puckering. She couldn't hold it anymore, and began to laugh uncontrollably.

Only embarrassing Kakashi further, he was blushing. "That's not funny!" he exclaimed to Haruhi, then turned to Obito. "And I obviously don't look like that!" he said, pushing him.

Obito only laughed, running as Kakashi began to chase him around the training field.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Haruhi sat with Miwako, in front of the Dango shop, clutching Tora to her side. Both eating the sweet treats, she hadn't spent quality time like this with her Mother in years. She had been so busy, oddly enough since she was only a child. She missed peaceful moments like this.

For the time being life was so simple, the world appeared to be so ... innocent. In the eyes of a normal child that's just how it is, but she knew better. On the outside of these village walls, there was danger. Danger and death.

Once she was older, once she finally became a ninja, she would have the unfortunate "privilege" of being exposed to it all. To see the cold truth with her own eyes.

But at the very same time, she would have the power to protect. She would save Obito from his unfortunate and untimely fate, prevent the deaths of as many as she could.

Though for the time being she would live her life as safely as she could, focus on getting stronger so she could do the job she was apparently thrown into this world for.

To protect.

She looked up at her mother. "Mama?" Miwako gave Haruhi her attention. "How come you're not a ninja?" She always wondered.

"Hmmm ..." Miwako hummed, taking another bite from her treat. "... I guess, I just never wanted to be one sweetheart."

Haruhi tilted her head. "Why not, you can defend yourself when you're a ninja. Cause then you would be really strong."

"I was just never a fighter." Despite her heritage, she just was never the type. "It's not really in me to harm another, even if they've harmed me." She smiled down at her daughter. "Besides, if you ask me, true strength isn't in your fists."

The little Uchiha girl blinked, "Then... where is it, in my head? Is my brain where my strength is?"

Miwako giggled. "In a sense, yes. But that isn't what I'm talking about, you silly little girl." She tickled Haruhi's chin. "Your true strength, lies here." She placed a hand on Haruhi's chest, "Right here, in your heart."

"My heart?" she repeated, laying her hand on top of her mother's. "What makes my strength go there?"

Miwako smiled sweetly at Haruhi. "Because that's where your love lies, love is what gives you strength. When you have people who are very dear to you, all that love gives you the strength to protect them. You're truly strong, when you have precious people." she explained.

"Is that why dad's so strong?"

She nodded. "Yes, the love he has for you and me, his clan but greatest of all his home ... it gives him all the power he could possibly need." Kagami's Will of Fire was very strong, he always told Haruhi that the village came first. No matter what, even before the Uchiha clan.

He father really was a remarkable man, Haruhi smiled. "So your strength is in your heart too, mama!"

"That's right Haruhi!" Miwako said. "Giving love is how I'm strong, like a ninja!" Haruhi had never considered such a thing before, it sounded a little cheesy. But at the same time, something so accurate.

"Mama?"

"Yes, dear?"

"How did you meet dad?" She was always a bit curious in regards to that as well.

Miwako blushed a little, then smiled. "My my, what a question that is." She giggled, then tapped her chin. "Let's see here ... we were very young when we first met, barely even teenagers." She looked up at sky, smiling at how it looked. "It was actually on a day exactly like this one, so bright and sunny. Without one cloud in the sky, a soft breeze in the air." She looked down at Haruhi, "Do you think Tora would like another stick of Dango, while I tell you this tale?"

Haruhi tilted her head, was that a joke? Or was that suppose to be cute? Haruhi was about to state to her Mother that it was impossible for a stuffed animal to eat, as they are not living things. But then, she realized that was Miwako's cute way of asking if Haruhi would like another stick.

She beamed. "Yeah!"

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

A wave of smoke erupted up from Haruhi's feet, visibly becoming Kagami. But not a perfect copy, there were a few physical differences. Kagami shook his head.

"That's close, but still not quite it." he commented as she returned to normal, "Try again."

She crossed her arms as she sighed, plopping down onto the ground. "This is hard!"

"You've practiced and learned more difficult things than this." Kagami reminded. "Like the Great Fireball technique, and water walking."

"And they took me a long time." she whined, why couldn't these things be easier?

Kagami sighed, the Transformation technique was one of the more difficult E-rank jutsu to learn. But Haruhi should have no problem, she was clearly just being impatient. Things are never learned in an instant, they take much time and practice.

"Why is this jutsu so important?" she questioned, causing Kagami to raise an eyebrow.

"Surely you know by now that any technique you learn will be of use to you, in nearly any way, shape, or form." he said. "Considering all the different missions a ninja are assigned to, battle, intelligence gathering, diversions, this ninjutsu is a very large necessity." he explained. "It's typically used to change into people other than oneself, but one also has the ability to change into animals, plants, and even inanimate objects like weapons. This gives this technique an abundance of uses, it's a very handy jutsu."

Haruhi frowned, it did sound like it was very important. "... Is there any type of trick to this one as well, Dad?"

"Well ..." Kagami trailed, rubbing his chin. "It's a technique that requires constant emission of chakra, while at the same time mentally maintaining the form. You need to picture, and I mean _really _picture, the person you're attempting to replicate. Otherwise you'll fool no one, an experienced ninja can perfectly perform this jutsu. Making it difficult for one to see through the allusion."

"Do I have to do it perfectly?"

Kagami pressed his lips together, normally he'd be very quick to say yes. But he would give her a break for once. "... No, for now you just perform it well enough to pass." Once they were through with this, she could practice her medic jutsu the rest of the day.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

The nightmare was different this time, in fact it was horrid. She still saw the Sharingan, only this time... the red of the right eye was dim while the left eerily glowed brightly. It was as if it were covered by something.

The murmurs grew louder and louder by the second, also hearing the same phrase.

_'World ... destruction ...'_

_'World ... destruction ...'_

_'World ... destruction ...'_

And this time... the nightmare would switch between the Sharingan and a grizzly scene. There was a stony plane, trees everywhere.I in the distance. She was running at ninja with Kagami, but she wasn't in control of any of her movement. It was as if someone were controlling her.

She couldn't even keep up with what was going on. One second, she'd be on this battlefield-like setting, then the next she'd see the clan's doujutsu.

There were screams,

There was blood spilled,

But worst of all ...

... It ended with her gazing down at her Father's bloodied corpse.

For the first time since these dreams began, she woke up screaming. Very loudly as she threaded her small hand through her hair, squeezing tightly. She didn't stop.

She heard loud, quick footsteps pound against the wooded floor of the hallway. And not even a second later her door was forcefully slid open, and there stood Kagami. His breath was quick and heavy, and his eyes were as wide as dinner plates. They were filled with panic.

As soon as Haruhi saw him, she broke into a sob. The image of his dead body flashed through her mind. "Haruhi ..." Kagami said, quickly going to her bedside. "What's the matter? Did you have a bad dream?" he asked, trying to pull her hands away from her face.

That only seemed to make it worse, as her crying increased. He brought into a tight embrace, stroking her hair to try and soothe her, as he shushes her. "It's alright Haruhi, whatever it was it's okay now. You're okay ..."

Oh, but it wasn't about Haruhi at all. Though she still wrapped her arms around him, crying into his chest as she shook. She didn't want him to leave, she voiced this to him and he was more than okay with that.

He stayed with her for the remainder of that night, but even with him right in front of her ... it didn't make that gruesome image disappear.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Man, those dreams are just getting worse and worse. Can you imagine having to go through that constantly? Poor Haruhi...

The Academy days are nearly finished, just two or three more chapters. Just thought I'd give you a heads up on that. :)

At first I wasn't gonna make someone like Hinako, but when I think about future chapters.. well, I'm gonna need her. For like one or two things, plus it's fun to write! She didn't have to be a Hyuuga, but I just thought it would be cool. With Haruhi being an Uchiha and all.

**Question: **Who do you think is the most overrated character in the show?

Don't ghost read, pretty please? With sprinkles and a cherry on top? I care about your opinion!


	8. Chapter eight: Team Minato

**Author's Note: **Thank you for all the favorites, follows, and reviews. You guys are the greatest!

**Answer: **Pffft obviously Sasuke, really the Uchiha clan as a whole cause of the Sharingan ... but Sasuke especially. Possibly even Madara and Obito, it's difficult to choose just one actually.

Due to a slight age mix up, their Academy days will be over this chapter. Well, happy reading everybody!

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto _

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

_Team Minato_

* * *

"Are you nervous, Haruhi-chan, you've been practicing right?" Obito questioned, then patted her back. "I'm sure you got this." That was what was said by him last, without even giving her the chance to properly answer for herself.

She smiled, the action partially forced. "So do you, all that training your butt off won't be for nothing." Today was finally the day, this would determine whether or not she could lend any sort of hand. If she could prevent all if any she could prevent.

She trained hard, practicing the more important techniques required for her Academy completion. While there were set backs, she was more determined to graduate and get into the more advanced training than ever. That horrid nightmare, she understood, while she couldn't come to grips with that voice and Sharingan ... her father was going to die, the time she wasn't too sure of. But she would be present.

That was what she'd gotten from it, it had all been far too real and precise for that to not be the case. She didn't understand a lot of things about it and she didn't know how it would go down, but what was certain was that she would prevent it. She would save his life, just like she would save all the others.

Though, even with this mentality, the entire thing in general had been so unnerving. It wasn't helping her mentally, having to see such a cursed image of Kagami every other night.

On another note, Edo certainly had been right about the class' size. Over the two years since their year began, many had been dropped from the program. For whatever reason, good or not, because of this their class amount of at least thirty-five students had been reduced to about sixteen. He'd in fact been amused by it, as it proved just how correct he'd been.

Though, what did surprise him was the amount of students who filled in the take the graduation exam. At least half of the remaining class, a few he hadn't been surprised were there — like Kurenai and Haruhi. He however was generally impressed by their determination, that hadn't meant they would pass the test.

Hopefully for their sake, they didn't prove to be overly confident.

"Haruhi-chan!" Rin exclaimed, rushing from the examination room and up to the young Uchiha. "I passed! I really really passed!" She excitedly pointed at the hitai-ite tied securely to her forehead, as if for further proof. Kurenai walked in next, after she was called.

Haruhi gave a smile. "That's great Rin-chan," she said. "You'll make a great ninja."

Rin's cheeks turned pink. "You think? I really hope so, I want to be so I can help people!" Haruhi nodded, her medical expertise would be very superb in her elder years. Hopefully she could do just that if she passed the test with her Jounin instructor; that is, if they even get a test.

Kakashi, in the future, only used the bell exam with Team Seven because it was a teamwork test he picked up from Minato. Minato used it with his own Genin because Jiraiya used it with his team, and that was only because Hiruzen used it with him, Tsunade, and Orochimaru.

Chances were greater than none she would still be grouped with Minato, and their squadron was going to pass the bell test no problem. She'd be okay.

Kurenai walked out not long after, sporting the same shinobi headband on her own head. "I figured you'd pass, Kurenai-san." Haruhi told from across the class. The Yuuhi girl was pretty skilled for her age, especially considering she wasn't even a clan child. She was practically Haruhi's equal.

Hell, Kurenai was a much quicker learner than her not to mention smarter, she was probably better than her. If it hadn't been for Haruhi's at home training, chances are she would have been surpassed by her.

Kurenai giggled. "Funny you say that, Edo-sensei told me the same thing." The little red eyed girl had said this loud enough for Haruhi to hear from her distance. "I'd expect the same from you, don't disappoint."

"I would never dream of it," she said, and she wouldn't. She was determined to end her years here now, she had to. "I have been training hard, after all."

Hinako narrowed her eyes at both of the girls, Haruhi had sounded so full of herself. Though, it was no surprise to the Hyuuga, Uchiha were famed for being quite arrogant after all. That cockiness of hers was sure to be her down fall one day. "Hyuuga Hinako." Edo called when he opened the door, and she walked straight to him.

"Good luck, Hinako-san." Kurenai said, when the girl passed her.

She stopped, then looked at her with a scoff. "I don't need any 'luck', _especially_ not from someone like you." was all she said before continuing to the examination room.

Kurenai was a little shocked, but otherwise unaffected. "Well then ..." she muttered before taking a seat in one of the first row seats.

"That was kind of rude ..." Rin commented, and Haruhi rolled her eyes.

"It came from a stupid Hyuuga." Haruhi commented, making Rin gasp.

"Haruhi-chan!" she exclaimed. "That was rude too!" Haruhi sighed, Rin was a bit too nice for her own good at some times.

"Please, that was right on the money!" Obito crossed his arms, "Hyuuga are the stupid ones, not Uchiha ..." he muttered, however not all Hyuuga were this way; it was just that Hinako had the unfortune of becoming that way.

When she finally left the testing room she held a sour look on her face, and there was no hitai-ite visible anywhere on her person. It seems like she didn't pass, Obito snickered. "Where's your hitai-ite, Hinako?"

"Shut up, as if you have room to talk you little dead last _loser_!" she countered, slipping down in the seat furthest from everyone. "Why even show your dumb face here? As if you'd even pass."

"Uchiha Haruhi." Edo called, and the Uchiha girl's stomach did a nervous leap. She stood up, and Obito beamed at her. Telling her good luck along with Rin and Kurenai.

"You'll need luck," Hinako stated, in a teasing manner. "the test isn't easy." Haruhi didn't have to respond to that, she merely kept walking. Straight into the testing room where Edo sat with two other sensei.

"Haruhi," Edo gave a short nod. "judging from what you've demonstrated during your years here, I expect you'll show nothing but the best?"

Haruhi took in a deep breath and breathed it out slowly, trying to calm her nerves and quickly beating heart. "That's what I would hope." And like.

"Begin with the Clone technique," he instructed. "you may make however many you see fit, but we would like to see nothing less than two."

Haruhi nodded and lifted her hands, forming the handseals of Ram, Snake, and Tiger. At least three copies of herself materialized around her.

It was a very simple ninjutsu that created intangible copies of one's own body, without any substance however. Since the clone itself doesn't have the ability to attack, and thus can only be used to confuse the enemy, it was mainly used in combination with other ninjutsu. It was a very basic technique, but depending on one's ingenuity, it can be used effectively. The clones may not dissipate when they come into contact with something, like with the more advanced form of the jutsu.

These clones could be easily distinguished by any person with a doujutsu. A person with normal eyes can also distinguish the clones from the original, as the clones do not have shadows and will not disrupt the area around themselves with their movement. They will not kick up any dust, crush grass while running or walking, etc.

The three Chuunin nodded in approval. "Very nice Haruhi, impressive." Edo said. "Now, for the Transformation technique." They put their clipboards down and waited for her patiently.

_'Alright, so far so good.'_ she thought, then lifted her hands. _'Dog, Boar, Ram.' _She carefully pictured who she was attempting to transform herself into, then felt it as she kneaded her chakra. A wave of smoke erupted up from her feet, and she appeared as a whole new person.

"Uchiha Kagami?" Edo had expected her to turn into him, just as all the previous students had done. But, the things was, Kagami was the only person she had practiced. She was afraid she'd mess something up if she attempted Edo, miss a certain detail that left her not becoming an exact copy. "Good, that's different." He jotted something down. "Final test is the Body Replacement." He picked up a thick looking blackboard eraser. "Ready?"

Haruhi took another deep breath, readying herself. She nodded. "Ready!" He chucked it at her, when it smacked her chest she disappeared with a pop. One of the other chairs that was in the room replacing where she once stood, as she was now closer to the door.

They each had smiles on their faces. "Well, that's everything. You did good, Haruhi." He and the other Chuunin put their clipboards down, and he picked up one of the six hitai-ite that laid in front of him. "Congratulations, you're now a kunoichi of Konohagakure." She stood there for a second, in disbelief, then her face broke out into a big grin.

She hurried over and took her proof as a shinobi from him, placing it on her forehead and tying the knot under her hair. Then, she respectfully gave each sensei a bow. "Thank you Edo-sensei, I'm glad I could call you my sensei."

He chuckled. "Just like every other student that passed, you deserved it." She nodded, then left the room with Edo following her. "Uchiha Obito," he said, and Obito eagerly stood up.

"You passed Haruhi-chan!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms around her and hugging her tightly.

"I sure did," She ruffled his hair when they pulled away. "And you're next, Obi-kun."

His cheeks always turned red when she called him that, it was quite adorable. "T-Thanks," He fixed his orange Google's and puffed out his chest, walking in confidently.

Haruhi high-fived Kurenai and Rin gave her a hug and congratulations when she retook her seat, Haruhi then looked in Hinako's general direction. "Maybe it was hard because you couldn't _do_ it."

"Whatever!" she shot back, venomously. Haruhi merely rolled her eyes.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Five of the students passed, while Hinako and two other boys hadn't. When Obito had come out with a headband underneath his pair of goggles he made sure to gloat to Hinako about it. "Dead last loser huh? Tell it to this thing you don't have!" was what he had said to her, needless to say it both shocked and angered the Hyuuga girl.

Hinako and the others who hadn't obtained shinobi status all had to leave the room, while the remaining five waited. Edo had told them the teams were already sorted out in case they all passed, and it just so happened Hinako and those boys were meant to be a team.

That left two students who were to be added to a squadron that lacked two members, most likely Minato and Kakashi's team. A girl to be put on another team that needed their female teammate, and the remaining boy and girl to be grouped with another open team. "I'm so nervous," Rin said, clutching Haruhi's arm. "I hope my team likes me ..."

"I know they will." Haruhi said, though hopefully she won't die anytime in the near future.

The door opened after a pretty long while, and Haruhi smiled when Minato walked in. The future Yondaime stepped off to the side with Edo to talk, whatever it was made him happy. He turned around and looked straight at Haruhi and Obito. "Obito, Haruhi, your sensei is here." Edo informed.

Haruhi's eyes widened, and she could've sworn her heart stopped for a second ... what did he just say? "Alright! You're my sensei now Minato-san, that's so cool!" Obito exclaimed, rushing over to Minato and hugging his leg.

Minato chuckled, patting his head then looking over at Haruhi. Though, she stood there, frozen in place like a statue. Minato... was her new sensei? Her mouth fell open, Rin was suppose to be on his team! What the hell could've happened, did she do something wrong? Did she mess with too much of the timeline or something? Cause this most definitely wasn't suppose to happen.

She didn't want Rin's spot, she wasn't suppose to even have it. Though, this proved to Rin's benefit as it heightened her chances of future survival. And Haruhi could now keep a close tab on Obito... but still, she couldn't deny that sliver of guilt she was feeling. Whatever it was she did that caused her to be placed there instead of Rin, she didn't mean to do it. This was nothing short of an accident.

She shouldn't have been such an overachiever ...

"Haruhi-chan?" Rin nudged her. "Why are you just standing there like that? Your sensei's here, don't you see him?"

"H-Huh?" she stuttered, glancing up at Minato again before looking at Rin. "Oh ... y-yeah ..." she sighed, moving away from Rin and up to Minato.

"Bye, Haruhi-chan!" she said, waving. Haruhi waved back before leaving the room with her new team.

When they got outside into the hallway, Haruhi saw Kakashi leaned up against the wall by the door. When he heard the door close he turned to them, seeing Haruhi first his eyes lit up a little. He stood up straighter and got off the wall, "Haruhi-chan, you—" he paused, his shoulders sagged when he noticed Obito as well. "Oh, great, _you're_ on my team too?"

Obito scowled. "Yeah ... I forgot Minato-sensei taught you too." Haruhi let out a sigh, not only did she take Rin's place ... she would have to deal with bickering from these two. A lot more often than she would like.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

The recently formed Team Minato was now in Training Ground Fifteen, Minato jingled a pair of bells in front of him. "All you have to do is take these from me." he said.

The three Genin looked around at each other, then Minato. "That's all? But how are we all suppose to get one? There are only two there." Kakashi pointed out, and his sensei nodded.

"Yes, that's right. Only two of you will actually get them, now who gets them ... well you'll all see for yourselves. Whoever doesn't get one, however, gets dropped from the ninja program."

Kakashi and Obito's eyes widened, while Haruhi remained indifferent. "What?!" Obito yelled. "Dropped from the— so that means that person can never be a ninja?!"

"Yes, but two of you can be dropped if only one gets a bell. Possibly even all of you." That was very unnerving for the boys. He hung them at his waist, then pointed at the small alarm clock he sat on one of the posts. "You've got until five o'clock, which means you've got two hours to retrieve a bell." They all nodded. "When I say 'begin' we start, remember to come at me with everything you've got."

"Yes, sensei." they all said, readying themselves; waiting for Minato to say the word.

"... Begin!" he exclaimed, then everyone leaped away and into the trees.

"Obito-kun, Kakashi-kun!" Haruhi quickly called before they got too far away. They both stopped to look at her.

"What is it, Haruhi-chan?" Kakashi question when she landed near them.

She bluntly said, "We all need to work together for the bells." There was no need to beat around the bush, there was little time for such a thing. Kakashi and Obito glanced at one another.

"What for? All he's gonna do is get in the way." Kakashi countered, crossing his arms. This made Obito glare and turn his back. "I'm not getting dropped just because he was being a screw up."

The Uchiha boy's eyes narrowed. "Well I'm not helping if he's gonna be a jerk about it!" Obito said. "I can get a bell all on my own!"

"No you _can't_!" Haruhi snapped, catching the two off guard. She didn't normally speak with such a sharp tongue. But she wasn't about to have this, "None of us can, we're a team of seven and eight year old, fresh out of the Academy Genin going up against a Jounin; one that's at least ten or eleven years older than us!" she said. "So please, explain to me, what makes you think you can get a bell on your own?"

Obito only stared, then looked down. She looked at Kakashi next, "And _you_, can you put aside your dislike for Obito-kun at least long enough to pass this test?! We're put on a team for a reason Kakashi-kun, a ninja can't do anything on their own!"

There was no time to waste arguing, the clock was ticking. "That's the whole point of this test, _teamwork_! It's obvious that we won't get them fighting Minato-sensei one on one, we'd be stronger as a unit. If we worked together."

"... How would you know all of that?" Kakashi asked, and Haruhi shook her head.

"That's not what's important, the point is can we stay on the same page? At _least_ until this is all over?" she asked, a bit hopeful that Kakashi specifically would be lenient on listening to her.

Kakashi glanced at Obito again and sighed, he didn't want to fail. "... Yeah," His eyes narrowed. "but what about what he said, what if he was serious?"

"Then I'll let you and Obito-kun have them," She smiled, then spoke again before either of them could reply in objection. "Obito-kun?" He hesitantly nodded.

"Yeah, you're right Haruhi-chan." he said, then twiddled his fingers. "I didn't mean to upset you ..."

She sighed, the gave a tiny smile. "It's okay, Obito-kun."

"But I don't want you to not be a ninja either!" he exclaimed. "What if Minato-sensei _was_ telling the truth?"

"Just trust me okay? Do you trust me?" she questioned, then after a short while he nodded. Haruhi nodded as well. "Alright, now we just need a plan."

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Minato looked around as he contemplated where the Genin may have been, he hasn't spotted any of them in the past half hour. It made him wonder what they were doing, did they get lost trying to find him? "I would've thought they'd be more serious about this." Considering he told them that this test was putting their entire ninja career in jeopardy.

Suddenly, Kakashi landed in front of Minato. The blonde haired man smirked. "I was wondering when I'd see one of you, what was the hold up?"

"Sorry," Kakashi apologized, pulling out some kunai. "but that's none of your concern, sensei." He threw his weapons at Minato, though it did little to hinder the older man as he easily dodged them all. Kakashi then rushed forward, throwing a flurry of punches and kicks that were a little fast for child; yet still slow enough to keep up with for the Jounin.

Minato caught one of Kakashi's fists, the sudden contact emitting a 'smack'. "You've gotten a bit faster, haven't you Kakashi?" The blonde haired man smirked. "I guess I'm a pretty awesome teacher."

"Quit bragging!" Kakashi exclaimed, swinging his leg around for a roundhouse kick. Only for his sensei to block it with his forearm and hop away, Kakashi followed suit. Haruhi and Obito watched in the trees as they kept pace.

"When do we jump in?" Obito questioned.

"When we see a clear opening." she replied.

"You sure we won't hurt him or nothing?" he asked, hestitant about the idea she held in her head.

She chuckled at his question. "He said to come at him with full force, this is full force."

"Where are the others?" Minato asked his student.

"That's none of your business either!" he exclaimed, mildly annoyed at the fact he wasn't landing many hits on the older man. Minato picked up on this, it was slightly amusing to him. He chuckled. "Don't laugh at me!" Kakashi's hand smacked onto the ground as he flipped the rest of his body up, finally kicking Minato square in the chest and making him skid back two feet or three. Kakashi smirked at this, though couldn't let go of the budding thought that Minato let him have that one.

Kakashi was quickly onto his feet again, pulling out an abundance of shuriken and hurling them all at his teacher simultaneously. He had to back up, dodge and weave to escape them all. Now this was their chance.

"Now Obito-kun!" Haruhi hushly exclaimed to her companion. They both leaped from the trees as they quickly threw handseals, Haruhi landing in front of Minato and Obito behind. Minato blinked, looking back and forth between the two. Their chests expanded as a makeshift fire ran from their guts to their mouths, releasing a giant fireball each of them once they breathed it all out. Both hitting Minato at the same time.

The fireballs burst away, flecks of fire falling from the air and ash on the ground from the charred dirt. But no Minato. "Hey, where'd he go?!" Obito yelled.

Kakashi ran up, he sneered. "He must have used that jutsu." Haruhi turned to Kakashi. "Flying Thunder God."

"What does that do?" Obito curiously inquired.

"It—"

"It's a space-time technique." Haruhi cut off Kakashi. "It opens a dimensional door that can transport the user to any place of their choosing."

"But, in sensei's case, he has specially made kunai that he uses for the jutsu. He probably has those things scattered everywhere in this place." Kakashi stated.

"If that's the case, then he could be anywhere!" Obito exclaimed.

Haruhi groaned. "Damn it ..." They were both a little surprised at the language she'd just used. "We need to hurry up and find him," She looked up at the sun. "I think we only have about an hour left."

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

The three Genin landed around Minato, the Jounin pursed his lips. "Well you three sure know how to burn time, you only have a little over thirty minutes remaining."

"That's cause you _ran_ from us!" Obito spat, and Minato shrugged.

"You're a ninja, you should've kept up with me." He sure was nonchalant, not to mention being just a bit unfair. He was older and a lot more skilled than them, and he must've forgotten that he'd used a technique that basically made him vanish without a trace. "You've wasted enough time, eh? Don't think you should waste anymore talking." With that said, they sprang into action.

All went for him at one time, he blocked some of their physical attacks while some he let land. His main focus was on the two bells that hung at his hip, he couldn't let them touch those.

With an irritable look, both Haruhi and Obito leaped away into the bushes while Kakashi kept on fighting with Minato. "Well, so much for that. Time's running out." he said to the young silver haired boy, though he this time failed to gain a response from him. It made him raise a curious eyebrow.

Then, suddenly, Kakashi stopped as well; leaping away. Minato watched him, confused. Were they all trying to fail? "Sensei!" He heard Kakashi yell, and he turned around. He stood a ways away from him.

"I hope you know, there's very little time to just stand around like that!" he said. And, another Kakashi landed next to him. That caught him off guard. "What the ..." he trailed, shaking his head. "That can't be the Shadow Clone technique, what is this?"

"You'll see." they both said, forming a series of familiar handseals. The Great Fireball technique.

They both blew out a fire, but just before it hit the Jounin he teleported away; again. Though this time, not someplace far. Just in a tall tree on the other side of them.

He jumped a bit when he heard a jingle, then turned. Spotting the masked boy with two bells in his hand. "What was that you said? About time running out?" Kakashi teased before jumping away from him. Joining the two others that remained on the ground, a wave of smoke rolled up from their feet with a 'pop'; revealing the two to actually be Haruhi and Obito.

"Well, that makes more sense." He should have known it was them when they induced that fire jutsu, Kakashi didn't know anything like that. He jumped down to join them all just as Kakashi tossed both the bells to them, Haruhi looked up at him.

"Kaka—"

"Forget about it, if what you said is true then it doesn't really matter anyway." Kakashi interjected.

"What did she say?" Minato asked, curious.

"That you lied to us!" Obito said, pointing at him. "About how only two of us could pass, this was a teamwork test this whole time!"

"Really now?" He looked at Haruhi. "How could you have possibly picked up on that?"

She shrugged. "I thought it was obvious, a team can't just have two members after all. So how can only two pass?" That had been some quick thinking on her part. She wouldn't have known how to answer that otherwise.

Minato hummed. "Very good thinking Haruhi." She smiled. "True, this was a test of teamwork and you all showed that nicely. A pretty juvenile plan, but efficient enough for this test nonetheless. Congratulations, we're officially Team Minato." Obito cheered while Haruhi and Kakashi high-fived.

"I didn't doubt you for a second." Kakashi said, and she knew he meant it. She could see the look of honesty in his eyes.

"I bet you weren't even gonna drop us from the program either." Obito said to Minato, who put a hand to his chin.

"You're right, I wasn't, I don't exactly have the authority to do that. Only the Hokage does." Minato said, crossing his arms. "But I would've had you all put back in the Academy, I _could_ do that." In the distance, they all heard the alarm go off. Time was up. "But that doesn't matter anymore now." Minato smiled. "You all passed with just a little time to spare. So again, well done."

They all smiled at their official sensei.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

"Mama, dad!" Haruhi exclaimed as she ran into her home. She heard Miwako's voice from the kitchen, telling the young girl that both her and Kagami were in there. She rushed in and saw them both seated at the table. She pointed at her forehead. "Look! I passed, I'm a ninja now!"

Miwako beamed and squealed, opening her arms to Haruhi as Kagami smiled; he expected such. All that training wasn't for nothing. "Sweetheart that's wonderful, oh we're so _proud_ of you!" she exclaimed, giving her a tight hug. "Even more great news!"

Haruhi looked up at her curiously once she pulled away. "More great news?" she repeated. "What else happened?" Miwako glanced up at Kagami with a smile, and he sat Haruhi onto his lap.

"You can tell her." She said to her husband, and his smile widened a little more. Haruhi looked up at her Father, waiting for whatever it was he had to say.

He looked down at her as well. "You're going to be a big sister." Hearing this made her gasp, and her head snapped back to look at her Mother. With her eyes wide, she slipped off of Kagami's lap and stepped close to Miwako. Slowly placing a hand onto her stomach, Miwako taking the other and placing it on as well.

"Isn't that wonderful, Haruhi?" she asked, but Haruhi didn't reply. She was too fixated on Miwako's belly, and what was growing inside. Her little brother, Shisui was in there. She almost couldn't believe it, she'd honestly forgotten all about him before now.

She slowly broke out into a wide smile, this was the greatest day ever.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

"This is so lame." Obito muttered as he, Haruhi, and Kakashi carefully harvested potatoes out of a small crop field. They'd recently gotten a mission from Hiruzen, to aid a farmer near the Leaf village in collecting his crops. They'd only been ninja for roughly two weeks, the only missions available to them were chore-like jobs.

"Well you'll have to deal with it Obito-kun." Haruhi said, putting another potato into a sack. "We're Genin, for now all we'll be getting is missions like these."

"By _why_ though?" Obito asked, plopping onto the ground.

"Because, like she said, we're Genin you idiot." Kakashi said with a roll of his eyes. "What did you expect us to get? An A-rank? Maybe S?"

"Don't be crazy!" the Uchiha boy shot. "I'm not trying to _die_, not before I'm Hokage! I just want something better than this!" He kicked his bag. "Why couldn't we save a princess or something, or fight enemy ninja? Or even bring something important to one of the other villages? I don't care, as long as it's nothing like this or walking dogs!"

"You have to start small, Obito." Minato said from behind him, causing him to jump and the others to pause. "Graduating early and passing my test doesn't give way to any mission assignment you want. Do enough D-rank missions successfully without any trouble, or set back, then maybe Sandaime will think about giving us a C-rank. Just be patient."

Obito pouted. "Alright ..."

"Did you just come over here to tell him that?" Kakashi asked, and Minato chuckled.

"No, of course not. Ishin-san said that what you have here is more than enough, he can get the rest himself." Minato explained.

"So our mission's finished?" Haruhi asked, leaning back up.

"For the most part, yes." He pointed over at the farmer, Ishin. "Just bring those bags to him while I fill out the remaining parts of the report, then we can go home."

"Finally!" Obito exclaimed as he began to drag his bag as quickly as he could, which wasn't very quick; Minato followed him. Kakashi turned to Haruhi.

"I actually don't blame him, these missions are starting to get on my nerves too." he said as they both began to drag their bags. "How long do you think we'll be doing missions like this?"

She shrugged. "Don't know, hopefully for not that much longer."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Next chapter is gonna have something you've all been waiting for. Probably gave that 'something' away just from saying that but oh well, maybe I'm just trying to get you excited.

At first I wasn't gonna put her with Kakashi and Obito on a team, but I did it as a way of avoiding making any more OC's.

I'm going to go back and edit the previous chapters, like fix the speech tags, necessary capitalization, etc. Nothing huge, you won't have to re-read anything.

**Question: **Which side do you personally like more? Hero or Villain?

You already know my motto, tell me what you think!


End file.
